BX  8065  .R45  1916 
Remensnyder,  Junius 

Benjamin,  1843-1927 
The  Lutheran  manual 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2009  witii  funding  from 

Princeton  Tlieological  Seminary  Library 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/lutlieranmanualOOreme 


THE  '^n!„„.,^  , 

LUTHERAN  MANUAL 


JUNIUS  B.  REMENSNYDER,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

AUTHOR   OF  "heavenward,"   "  THE   ATONEMENT   AND 

MODERN  THOUGHT,"  "  THE  POST-APOSTOLIC  AGE," 

"work    AND    PERSONALITY    OF    LUTHER," 

"six     days     of     CREATION," 

"mysticism,"  ETC. 


FOURTH    AND    REVISED   EDITION 


PHILADELPHIA,  PA. 
THE  LUTHERAN   PUBLICATION   SOCIETY 


COPYBIGHT,    1916,    BY 

THE  LUTHERAN  PUBLICATION  SOCIETY 


PREFACE  TO  FOURTH  EDITION 

IT  is  a  hopeful  sign  for  our  American  Lutheran 
Church  that  a  new  edition  of  the  "Manual" 
is  called  for.  For  it  shows  that  amid  so  much 
that  is  weak  and  sensational  in  American  Prot- 
estantism our  Lutheran  Church  stands  by  her  own 
historic,  intelligent,  conservative,  churchly  piety. 

And  it  proves,  too,  that  our  various  bodies  are 
drawing  more  closely  together.  For,  as  Dr. 
Henry  E.  Jacobs  points  out,  in  his  "American 
Church  History":  "The  Lutheran  Manual' 
is  a  valuable  presentation  of  the  doctrines,  wor- 
ship and  government  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
which  will,  doubtless,  be  widely  circulated  with- 
out distinction  of  ecclesiastical  lines." 

May,  then,  this  new  edition,  carefully  revised 
by  the  author,  promote  a  strong  and  intelligent 
church  love,  as  well  as  tend  to  unify  us  in  a  great 
and  efficient  American  Lutheran  Church. 

JUNIUS  B.  REMENSNYDER. 
New  York  City. 


PREFACE  TO  FIRST  EDITION 

THIS  volume  appears  in  answer  to  the  question, 
frequently  asked,  for  a  book  setting  forth  in 
simple  style  the  main  characteristics  of  the 
Lutheran  Church.  It  aims  to  promote  the  in- 
terests and  progress  of  the  whole  Church,  with- 
out regard  to  divisions  or  parties.  Accordingly, 
the  doctrines,  usages,  spirit,  and  life,  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  are  here  set  forth  in  such  large 
outlines,as  are  common  to  all  synods,  branches, 
and  sections.  Never  was  there  a  time  so  full  of 
promise  and  opportunity  for  our  Church  as  the 
present.  And  on  every  side  she  is  rising  to  the 
occasion.  This  great  Lutheran  awakening  extends 
to  all  classes.  Our  young  people  have  caught  it, 
and  are  moving  forward  with  enthusiasm.  How 
timely  and  important,  then,  that  every  member 
be  intelligendy  informed  as  to  the  distinctive 
glories  of  the  Church  of  his  love  and  pride! 

To  this  end  we  send  forth  this  modest  volume, 
trusting  that  it  may  contribute  toward  one,  great, 
undivided  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church — that  the 
Ecclesiastical  Mother  of  Protestantism  may  be 
for  America  what  she  has  been  and  is  for  the 
world. 

J.  B.  R. 
Nov  York,  June  2Sih,  iSgj. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Name  Lutheran,          ......  i 

II.  The  Lutheran  an  Historical  Church,          ...  8 

III.  The   Lutheran   Church    the   Source  of  the  other 

Protestant  Churches,           .         .         .         .         .  if. 

IV.  The  Lutheran  Church  and  the  Word  of  God,     .         .  £1 
V.  Justification  by  Faith,  the  Central  Lutheran  Doctrine,  28 

VI.  The  Sacraments,        .......  37 

VII.  Baptism, 44 

VIII.  The  Lord's  Supper, 53 

IX.  Polity,  or  Government, 62 

X.  Worship, 70 

XL  Rites  and  Festivals,   .......  87 

XII.  The  Lutheran  an  Orthodox  Church,           .         .         .  100 

XIII.  Lutherans  and  the  Church,        .         .         .         .         .  113 

XIV.  Lutheran  Piety, 127 

XV.  Christian   Nurture,  or  Children  in   the  Lutheran 

Church,        ........  140 

XVI.  Our  Young  People, 149 

XVII.  Culture, 156 

XVIII.  Sacred  Art, 164 

XIX.  Unity, 179 

XX.  English  and  Foreign-speaking  Lutherans,         ,         .  .193 

XXI.  A  World-wide,  or  truly  Catholic  Church,           .         .  202 

XXII.  Unparalleled  Growth  in  the  United  States,        .         .  207 

XXIII.  Loyalty  to  the  Lutheran  Church,       ....  214 

XXIV.  Our  Future  in  America,     ......  220 


THE  LUTHERAN  MANUAL 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    NAME    LUTHERAN. 

AS  the  name  Christian  was  first  given  the 
disciples  of  Christ  in  derision,  so  those 
who  adhered  to  the  pure  gospel  in  the  era  of  the 
Reformation  were  derisively  styled  "Lutherans." 
As  Luther  was  the  hero  of  the  Reformation — 
the  Providential  agent  of  that  blessed  work — - 
it  was  natural  that  those  who  clung  to  his 
doctrines  should  be  associated  with  his  name. 
Hence,  as  the  Reformation  spread  throughout 
distant  quarters  of  the  world,  wherever  one 
would  espouse  the  restored  faith,  the  scornful 
remark  would  be  made :  "  He  is  a  Lutheran," 
and  not  only  was  it  a  mark  of  obloquy,  but  also 
a  badge  of  danger. 


As  the  truth  advanced  however,  and  gained 
larger  conquests,  history  repeated  the  lesson  of 
old.  For,  just  as  had  occurred  with  the  term 
Christian,  so  it  issued  with  Lutheran.  That 
which  had  been  applied  as  an  epithet  of  scorn, 
became  a  synonym  of  honor.  Thus,  while  the 
Reformers  used  the  official  title :  "The  Evan- 
gelical (from  Evangelion,  the  Greek  word  for 
gospel)  Church,"*  in  common  parlance  it  was  called 
"The  Lutheran  Church,"  and  this  popular  title  in 
practice  has  virtually  supplanted  the  official  one. 
This  has  been  sometimes  urged  as  objectionable. 
It  is  said  by  opponents  that  the  Church  of  Christ 
should  not  be  called  after  any  human  and  imper- 
fect person,  no  matter  how  illustrious.  This 
would  be  true  if  it  at  all  were  meant  to  supplant 
the  name  Christian.  But  this  it  is  not.  It  is  first  of 
all,  as  termed  in  the  Scripture  :  "The  Church  of 
Christ;"  "The  Church  of  God;"  or  as  called  in 
the  Apostles'  and  Nicene  Creed:  "The  Holy 
Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church."  In  this  primary 
and  generic  sense  none  other  than  a  divine 
name  dare  be  applied  to  it.  But  for  practical 
uses,  that  the  diverse  phases  of  Christianity  may 

*"Its  usual  title  is  'Evangelical  Lutheran  Church;'  «Evangel. 
ical*  being  the  name ;  'Lutheran'  the  surname :"  Schaff-Herzog 
Encyclopedia,  Vol.  II,  p.  1370. 


be  distinguished  from  one  another,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  employ  particular  descriptive  titles. 
Such  secondary  appellatives,  attached  to  the 
generic  christian  name  have  accordingly  become 
universal.  Thus  we  speak  of  the  Romanist, 
Episcopal,  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Methodist,  Con- 
gregational churches,  which  secondary  names 
a^e  based  upon  merely  human  forms  of  govern- 
ment and  administration.  The  name  Lutheran  is 
no  more  objectionable  on  the  ground  of  finite 
limitations  than  any  of  these.  But  on  the  other 
hand,  it  has  this  incomparable  advantage  over  all 
others,  that  it  emphasizes  and  keeps  in  con- 
spicuous view  the  pure  evangelical  doctrine 
which  Luther  confessed,  and  for  fidelity  to  which 
he  stood.  This  was  illustrated  in  the  noble 
response  made  by  the  Margrave  of  Brandenburg, 
who,  challenged  for  calling  himself  a  Lutheran 
Christian,  answered:  "I  was  not  baptized  in  the 
name  of  Luther:  he  is  not  my  God  and  Savior;  I  do 
not  rest  my  faith  in  him,  and  am  not  saved  by 
him ;  and  therefore,  in  this  sense  I  am  no  Luth- 
eran. But  if  I  be  asked,  whether  with  my  heart 
and  lips,  I  profess  the  doctrines  which  God  restored 
to  light  by  the  instrumentality  of  His  blessed 
servant  Luther,  I  neither  hesitate,  nor  am  ashamed 
to  call  myself  a  Lutheran,     hi  this  sense  I  am- 


and,  as  long  as  Hive,  will  remain  a  Luther an^ 

Another  benefit  of  using  this  name  arises  from 
Luther's  unique  and  marvelous  personality. 
"Luther," said  the  great  Melanchthon,  "is  all  in  all, 
a  miracle  among  men."  Wrote  Calvin:  "Luther 
is  the  trumpet  which  has  roused  the  world  from 
its  lethargy — it  is  not  as  much  Luther  who  speaks, 
as  God  whose  lightnings  burst  from  his  lips." 
Says  the  great  theologian,  Dr.  Dorner:  "Luther 
was  the  first  christian  of  the  modern  world — one 
of  those  rare  historical  figures  in  which  whole 
nations  recognize  their  type."  The  eminent 
Catholic,  Dr.  Dollinger,  testifies :  "It  was  Luther's 
over-powering  greatness  and  wonderful  many- 
sidedness  that  made  him  the  man  of  his  age  and 
his  people.  His  opponents  were  colorless  and 
feeble  by  the  side  of  his  transporting  eloquence. 
They  stammered,  he  spoke."  The  secular  histor- 
ian, Froude,  says  of  him:  "Luther's  eyes  were 
literally  world-wide.  Reading  his  Table-Talk, 
one  ceases  to  wonder  that  this  remarkable  man 
changed  the  face  of  the  world."  The  distin- 
guished church  historian,  Dr.  Schaff,  writes  of 
him:  "No  man — save  the  apostles — deserves  so 
much  to  be  held  in  grateful  remembrance  as 
Martin  Luther,  remarkable  alike  as  a  man,  as  a 
Christian,  as  a  theologian,  as  a  Bible  translator, 


catechist  and  hymnlst,  as  the  bold  champion  of 
the  freedom  of  conscience,  and  as  the  chief  leader 
of  the  Reformation"*  Wrote  Carlyle:  "I  v;ill 
call  this  Luther  a  true  Great  Man :  Great,  not  as 
a  hewn  obelisk ;  but  as  an  Alpine  mountain.  A 
right  spiritual  Hero  and  Prophet,  for  whom  these 
centuries  and  many  that  are  to  come,  will  be 
thankful  to  Heaven"f  The  great  critic  Lessing 
uttered  this  high  eulogy :  "In  such  reverence  do  I 
hold  Luther,  that  I  rejoice  in  having  been  able  to 
find  some  defects  in  him,  for  I  have  been,  in  fact, 
in  imminent  danger  of  making  him  an  object  of 
idolatrous  veneration;"  and  even  the  Roman 
Catholic  Count  Stolberg  feels  compelled  to  bear 
this  testimony  to  him :  "Against  Luther's  person 
I  would  not  cast  a  stone.  In  him,  I  honor,  not 
alone  one  of  the  grandest  spirits  that  have  ever 
lived,  but  a  great  religiousness  also,  which  never 
forsook  him." 

When  Elijah  was  caught  away  in  a  chariot  of 
fire  to  heaven,  Elisha  implored  that  a  double 
portion  of  the  mighty  prophet's  spirit  might  fall 
upon  him,  and  so  it  is  of  incalculable  benefit  to 
the  Church  of  Christ  militant  that  the  spirit  of  so 

*  Symposiac  on  Martin  Luther,  p.  21. 
f  Heroes  and  Hero  Worship,  p,  127. 


unique  a  hero  of  the  Lord  as  this  should  still  in- 
spire her  columns.  The  faith,  the  reverence,  the 
courage,  and  the  keen  spiritual  vision  of  Luther, 
are  what  Christendom  needs  at  all  times,  and 
what  are  specially  required  to  meet  the  crises  and 
perils  of  our  day.  And  experience  shows  that  the 
name  Luther,  attached  to  our  Church,  has  kept 
his  commanding  figure  at  our  head,  and  that  its 
influence  has  been  a  constant  and  beneficial  in- 
spiration. Much  of  the  unswerving  loyalty  of 
the  Lutheran  Church  to  the  scriptures,  and  to  the 
pure  gospel  of  the  Reformation,  is  owing  to  the 
manner  in  which  the  rare  personality  of  Luther 
has  perpetually  been  held  up  before  her. 

Whether  then,  we  consider  the  name  Lutheran, 
in  its  origin,  or  in  the  light  of  the  history  and 
achievements  which  more  than  four  centuries 
have  gathered  about  it,  there  is  nothing  in  it  to 
be  defended,  or  apologized  for,  but  it  is  a  name  to 
be  proud  of,  and  to  inscribe  boldly  on  our  eccle- 
siastical banners.  Other  distinctive  denomina- 
tional names  are  empty  and  colorless  by  the  side 
of  it.  No  title  is  so  fitted  to  awaken  spiritual 
enthusiasm  as  that  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church,  and  every  worthy  member  of  this  great 
communion  can  say  with  a  just  pride:  "I  glory  in 
the  name  Lutheran;  so  rich  a  heritage  of  spiritual 


blessing  has  this  title  bequeathed  to  our  Church, 
that  we  cannot  but  believe  that  its  selection  was 
the  handiwork  of  Providence." 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    LUTHERAN    AN    HISTORICAL    CHURCH. 

THAT  the  purpose  of  God  to  bring  salvation  to 
the  world  might  be  carried  out,  He  established 
the  Church.  Under  the  Old  Testament  dispen- 
sation this  existed  as  the  Jewish  Church.  At 
the  coming  of  Christ  it  was  transformed  into  the 
Christian  Church.  This  Christian  Church  has  un- 
dergone many  vicissitudes,  but  never  has  it  been 
destroyed.  For  about  three  centuries,  during  the 
era  of  the  Roman  persecutions,  we  speak  of  it  as 
the  Early  or  Primitive  Church.  Thence  from  the 
era  of  Constantine  it  gradually  assumes  the 
Mediaeval  form,  the  Church  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
About  the  tenth  century  occurred  the  great 
schism  between  the  Greek  and  Roman  wings  of 
the  Church. 

When    the    Roman    Catholics    contend    that 
theirs  alone  is  the  one  old  historic  Church,  the 
answer  is  that  the  "Greek  or  Oriental  Church  is 
the  oldest  in  Christendom,  and  for  several  cen 
turies  was  the  chief  bearer  of  our  religion.     She 


still  occupies  the  sacred  territory  of  primitive 
Christianity,  and  claims  most  of  the  Apostolic  Sees, 
as  Jerusalem,  Antioch,  and  the  Churches  founded 
by  Paul  and  John."*  She  produced  the  first 
christian  literature  and  used  the  language  spoken 
by  Christ  and  His  apostles.  Did  any  branch  of 
Christianity  possess  the  exclusive  claim  to  the 
descent  from  the  original  historic  tree,  it  would 
then  be  the  Greek  rather  than  the  Romish 
branch. 

The  great  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century 
from  which  issued  the  Lutheran  Church,  did  not 
originate  any  new  thing.  It  was  a  Re-formation, 
not  a  creation.  It  only  restored  the  old.  It  tore 
away  the  heap  of  Mediaeval  rubbish  of  supersti- 
tion and  ceremonial  under  which  the  pure  faith 
and  simple  ritual  of  the  Church  had  been  buried. 
It  was  by  the  study  of  the  writings  of  the  early 
Church  fathers,  as  Augustine,  etc.,  that  Luther 
was  largely  led  to  break  free  from  Romish  error. 
And  therefore  his  aim  was  to  return  to  the  purity 
of  the  Primitive  and  Apostolic  Age.  He  simply 
built  upon  the  old  "foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief 
corner-stone."  "That  is  exactly  what  we  mean  by 

*Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia — Greek  Church,  Vol.  II,  p.  900. 


lO 

the  German  Reformation,  which  was  not  a  new 
development  of  Christianity,  but  simply  the  pro- 
cess of  scraping  off  the  barnacles  that  had  been 
accumulating  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  and  more 
and  more  obstructing  Christianity's  progress 
through  the  midst  of  this  storm-tossed  world  that 
it  was  set  here  to  sail  on."* 

Had  Luther  been  a  destructive  radical,  reck- 
lessly going;  on  a  career  of  innovation,  he  would 
not  have  been  followed  and  supported  by  millions 
of  the  best  and  wisest  of  christians.  But  he  was 
a  judicious  conservative,  who  revered  the  past. 
He  knew  that  there  had  always  been,  and  always 
would  be,  a  true  visible  Church  of  Christ.  There- 
fore he  did  not  by  any  means  break  with  the 
historical  continuity  of  the  Christian  Church. 
When  he  renounced  the  Pope  this  was  not  re- 
nouncing the  true  Church,  but  only  declaring  the 
more  truly  and  loyally  for  it.  So  he  and  his  fol- 
lowers never  severed  themselves  from  the  ancient 
Christian  tree,  but  the  decayed  and  corrupt 
branches  severed  from  them,  and  left  them  the 
representatives  of  pure  historic  Christianity. 
''Whilst  Luther  emended  the  gravest  errors  and 
vices  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  restored  the 

•Orthodoxy— C.  H.  Parkhurst,  D.D. 


II 

Church  to  a  happier  condition,  he  did  not  frame  a 
new  Church,"  says  Budeus.  "When  the  Luther- 
ans renounced  the  Papacy  and  its  abominations, 
they  took  with  them  the  same  Bible,  the  same 
CathoHc  Confessions,  the  same  Holy  Faith,  and 
the  same  Apostolic  Ministry  and  Sacraments, 
which  distinguished  the  Church  in  the  beginning, 
and  hence  the  same  historic  Church-life,  which 
took  its  rise  in  the  incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God, 
which  trickled  feebly  through  the  rubbish  and 
darkness  of  the  middle  ages,  and  which  never 
was,  or  could  be,  entirely  lost."* 

Had  the  Lutherans  rejected  anything  simply 
because  Rome  held  or  used  it — the  position  of 
some  ultra- Protestants — they  would  thereby,  to 
that  extent  have  cut  themselves  off  from  the  true 
visible  Church.  But  whatever  of  ancient  Chris- 
tianity, both  in  faith  and  usage,  had  come  down 
through  the  middle  ages,  pure  and  incorrupt, 
they  reverently  and  lovingly  retained.  And  only 
that  which  was  unscriptural  and  a  perversion  of 
the  Gospel,  did  they  reject.  "The  sacred  treas- 
ure of  true  Catholicity,  which  the  Church  of  early 
times  had  nurtured  in  the  form  of  Greek- Roman 
culture,  is  taken   over — freed  from  excrescences, 

*Dr.  Seiss,  in  Ecclesia  Lutherana,  p.  34. 


12 

and  enriched  by  those  acquisitions  of  the  Middle 
Ages  that  had  stood  the  proof.  Its  vocation  was 
to  set  forth  the  happy  mean."*  This  left  the  Lu- 
theran not  only  a  living  branch,  but  the  main  trunk 
of  the  historical  Christian  Tree.  It  was  not  the 
Lutheran,  but  the  Romish  phase,  which  severed 
itself  from  pure  primitive  Christianity.  If  there 
was  an  apostasy,  a  falling  away,  from  the  Church 
of  Christ  in  the  Reformation,  it  was  Rome,  and 
not  the  Lutherans  who  were  guilty  of  it. 

And  as,  then,  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 
is  built  upon  the  pure  Word  of  God  and  Sacra- 
ments of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  his  holy 
Apostles ;  and  as  her  Ministry  is  descended  in 
unbroken  line  from  apostolic  ordination ;  and  as 
she  retains  the  devout  usages  of  the  Church  in 
her  primitive  purity ;  she  is  without  doubt  a  true 
historical  Christian  Church.  It  is  a  fact  capable 
of  demonstration  that  no  Church,  in  Faith,  Wor- 
ship, and  Order,  is  in  such  accord  with  the  Church 
framed  by  Christ  and  the  Apostles,  as  the  Luth- 
eran. With  all  charity  and  fraternal  feeling  toward 
christians  of  other  households  we  may  yet  truly 
say  that  to  no  other  communion  applies  so  fitly  as 
to  the  Lutheran,  the  title:  "The  Holy  Catholic 

*Church  History,  Kurtz,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  144. 


13 

and  Apostolic  Church." 

In  her  we  see  in  its  most  glorious  and  perfect 
form  the  visible  kingdom  of  God — the  gate  to 
the  holy  Jerusalem  and  heavenly  temple  above. 
And  he  who  adds  himself  to  her  membership 
may  do  so  in  the  full  confidence  that  in  her  is 
fulfilled  this  great  investiture  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ:  "Upon  this  rock  I  will  build  My 
Church  :  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail 
against  it.     Matt,  xvi:  i8. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   LUTHERAN    CHURCH    THE   SOURCE  OF  THE 
OTHER    PROTESTANT    CHURCHES. 

PROTESTANT  and  Lutheran  were  originally 
synonyms.  It  was  the  Lutherans  alona 
who  made  the  famous  protest  at  Spire  in  1529 
from  which  they  were  called  Protestants.  And 
the  indelible  connection  of  this  title  Protestant 
with  all  the  non-Romish  Churches,  serves  to 
stamp  them  all  as  generically  of  Lutheran  origin. 
When  Luther  on  the  31st  of  October,  1517^ 
nailed  his  95  theses  to  the  doors  of  the  Castle- 
Church  at  Wittenberg,  the  act  aroused  the 
civilized  world.  Says  a  writer  of  that  time :  "The 
theses  were  transmitted  to  all  parts  of  the  earth 
as  if  the  angels  were  their  messengers."  Luther's 
hammer  awoke  the  slumbering  nations.  From 
his  first  stroke,  the  great  Reformatory  movement 


15 

was  begun,  and  Popes,  Councils,  and  Princes,  might 
as  well  have  sought  to  turn  the  earth  backward 
on  its  axis,  as  to  attempt  to  retard  its  course. 
Everywhere  Luther's  books  were  in  men's  hands, 
and  people  were  eagerly  studying  the  new  and 
yet  old  doctrines.  In  Switzerland,  in  France,  and 
in  England,  these  influences  were  most  powerfully 
felt.  The  great  Swiss  Reformer,  Zwingli,  and 
the  great  French  Reformer,  Calvin,  both  thank- 
fully acknowledged  their  indebtedness  to  Luther. 

In  England,  especially,  the  movement  made 
itself  felt.  "  Luther's  writings  were  eagerly 
read  in  England."*  Indeed  as  early  as  1521 
official  complaint  was  made  to  Cardinal  Wolsey 
"that  the  University  of  Oxford  is  infected  with 
the  heresies  of  Luther,  divers  students  having  a 
great  number  of  books  of  the  said  perverse 
doctrine."  The  same  year  Cardinal  Wolsey 
issued  a  rescript  condemning  Luther's  writings 
and  ordering  all  copies  to  be  delivered  up  within 
1 5  days.  Notwithstanding  these  sharp  measures, 
a  noted  writer  of  that  time  says :  "  Lutheranism 
increased  daily  in  the  University  of  Oxford."  In 
1526  appeared  Tyndale's  translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  evidently  inspired  by  Luther's  trans- 

*Church  History,  Kurtz,  Vol,  II,  p.  313. 


i6 

lation  of  1522.  An  Episcopal  writer  admits  of  it 
that  Tyndale  ''had  Luther's  translation  before 
him  and  constantly  consulted,  and  often  adopted 
it."  The  same  is  true  of  the  first  authorized 
version  of  the  whole  English  Bible  by  Coverdale 
in  1535.  "The  Origin  of  the  English  Bible  is 
therefore,"  says  Dr.  H.  E.  Jacobs  in  his  learned 
volume,  "to  be  traced  to  German  soil  and 
Lutheran  influences."* 

Protestantism,  however,  as  an  organized  eccle- 
siastical movement,  dates  its  origin  from  the 
adoption  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  June  25th, 
1530.  From  this  time,  it  was  no  longer  the  in- 
dividual work  of  Luther,  but  a  purified  phase 
of  Christendom  viz:  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church.  And  this  Augsburg  Confession,  which 
was  wholly  and  distinctively  Lutheran,  laid  the 
doctrinal  foundation  of  all  the  other  Protestant 
Churches.  Says  D'Aubigne,  the  Reformed  his- 
torian, of  it:  "The  Augsburg  Confession  will 
ever  remain  one  of  the  master-pieces  of  the  hu- 
man mind,  enlightened  by  the  spirit  of  God."t 
Writes  the  Presbyterian,  Dr.  Schaff :  "The  Augs- 
burg Confession  will  ever  be  cherished  as  one  of 
the  noblest  monuments  of  faith  from  the  Pente- 

*"The  Lutheran  Movement  in  England."    Jacobs,  p.  219. 
fHistory  of  the  Reformation,  p.  497. 


17 

costal  period  of  Protestanism.  Its  influence  ex- 
tends far  beyond  the  Lutheran  Church.  It  struck 
the  key  note  to  the  other  evangelical  confessions." 
And  says  Gieseler,  the  great  Reformed  Church 
historian:  "If  the  question  be,  which  among  all 
Protestant  Confessions,  is  best  adapted  for  form- 
ing a  union  among  Protestant  Churches,  we  de- 
clare ourselves  unreservedly  for  the  Augsburg 
Confession."  Dr.  Krauth  writes :  "In  it  the  very 
heart  of  the  gospel  beat  again.  To  it,  under  God, 
more  than  to  any  other  cause,  the  whole  Protes- 
tant world  owes  civil  and  religious  freedom."* 
And  the  scholarly  Bishop  Whittingham,  of  Mary- 
land, speaking  for  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  says:  "The  Augsburg  Confession  is  the 
source  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  Church 
of  England  and  America — their  prototype  in 
form,  their  model  in  doctrine,  and  the  very  foun- 
dation of  many  of  their  expressions."!  This  is 
most  natural,  since  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  (Epis- 
copal) were  not  adopted  until  the  year  1563, 
when  the  Reformation  had  already  been  fought 
and  won  under  the  Augsburg  Confession,  which 
appeared  33  years,  or  a  whole  generation  earlier. 
The  Westminster  Confession  (Presbyterian)  was 

^Conservative  Reformation,  p.  258. 

fLutheran  Origin  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  the  Anglican 
Church — Dr.  J.  G.  Morris. 


i8 

not  adopted  until  1648,  a  full  century  later,  and 
some  of  the  confessions  of  the  other  leading 
Protestant  Churches  are  quite  modern.  It  was 
inevitable,  therefore,  that  all  these  should  have 
been  substantially  drawn  from  the  Augsburg- 
Confession,  i.  e.  were  Lutheran  in  their  origin. 

History,  moreover,  shows  that  the  English 
Reformation  was  not  only  due  directly  to  Luther 
and  Lutheranism,  but  was  on  the  very  point  of 
ecclesiastically  joining  the  new  movement.  Soon 
after  the  adoption  of  the  Augsburg  Confession,  viz. 
in  1535,  an  official  English  commission  was  sent  to 
Wittenberg,  where  after  lengthy  conferences  with 
Luther  and  Melanchthon,  thirteen  doctrinal  articles 
were  mutually  adopted  in  which  the  King  of 
England  "agrees  to  promote  the  gospel  of  Christ 
and  the  pure  doctrine  of  faith  according  to  the 
mode  in  which  it  was  confessed  in  the  Diet  of 
Augsburg."  These  negotiations  after  continuing 
for  years,  finally  failed,  and  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land was  not  amalgamated  with  the  Lutheran 
Church.  But  not  only  did  the  essential  identity 
of  their  confession  remain,  but  their  forms  of  wor- 
ship were  chietly  taken  from  Luther's  service, 
and  in  America  the  Episcopal  Church  officially 
styles  herself,  Protestant,  which  as  we  have 
shown,     historically     signifies  Lutheran.    "Luth- 


19 

eranism  was,  in  fact,  the  exact  shade  which 
colored  the  minds  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  of  the 
divines  who  held  to  her.  Her  altar  was  precisely 
the  Lutheran  altar :  her  opinions  were  represented 
in  almost  a  continuous  line  by  one  divine  after 
another  down  to  our  time."*  The  Lutheran 
belief  of  Elizabeth  is  shown  by  her  noted  words : 

Christ  was  the  Word  that  spake  it, 
He  took  the  bread  and  brake  it, 
And  what  that  Word  did  make  it, 
That  I  receive  and  take  it. 

In  the  face  of  these  indubitable  historical  facts, 
how  utterly  groundless  is  the  claim  sometimes 
put  forth  that  the  Episcopal  Church  of  England 
and  America  stands  alone  in  this  respect,  that  it 
is  independent  of  the  Lutheran  Reformation,  and 
has  had  a  continuous  existence  from  the  apostolic 
time  apart  alike  from  the  Romish  Church,  and 
from  the  great  religious  awakening  of  the  XVI 
century!  When  Luther  appeared,  and  the  Luth- 
eran Church  arose,  there  was  but  one  great 
ecclesiastical  system  dominating  Christendom,  and 
holding  the  civilized  world  in  its  grasp  viz :  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  To  Luther  and  the 
Lutheran  Church,  therefore,  all  the  now  existing 
non-Romish    Churches    owe    their    origin    and 

♦Christian  Institutions,  Dean  Stanley,  p.  89. 


20 


their  general  character.  And  of  all  these 
Churches  not  one  has  been  so  directly  dependent 
upon  the  Lutheran,  and  has  so  nearly  reproduced 
it  in  doctrine  and  worship  as  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal. 

The  Lutheran  Church  then  is  without  exception 
THE  SOURCE  of  the  other  Reformed  churches.  To 
her  belongs  the  proud  title :  "  Mother  of  Protest- 
antism." "The  Reformation  of  the  Sixteenth 
Century  is  the  mother  or  grandmother  of  at  least 
half  a  dozen  families  of  evangelical  denominations 
not  counting  the  subdivisions."*  And  as 
daughters  should  venerate  their  mother,  so 
affectionately  should  the  various  Protestant 
churches  regard  and  venerate  her  as  "the  rock 
whence  they  were  hewn."  "  It  is  the  truism  of 
history  that  the  Lutheran  is  the  parent  Evangeli- 
cal Church.  She  is  the  mother  of  Protestantism. 
Historically  all  other  Evangelical  churches  have 
sprung  from  her."t 

*Schaff's  Church  History,  Vol.  VII,  p.  9. 
fThe  Lutherans  in  America,  Wolf,  p.  505. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  AND  THE  WORD  OF  GOD. 

THE  corner  stone  of  the  Lutheran  Church  is 
Holy  Scripture.  From  the  day  that  Luther 
found  the  Bible  in  the  University  at  Erfurt,  the 
Reformation  was  born.  In  that  sacred  volume 
lay  the  germ  of  the  mighty  movement  that  was 
about  to  recreate  the  world.  It  was  by  the  study 
of  the  Word  of  God  that  Luther  became  en- 
lightened as  to  the  errors  of  Romanism,  and  it 
was  with  this  sword  of  the  spirit  that  he  led  forth 
the  Church  from  her  bondage,  to  the  liberty  and 
progress  of  the  modern  era.  It  was  on  the  rock  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  as  over  against  the  edicts 
of  Popes  and  the  decrees  of  Councils,  that  Luther 
planted  himself  at  Worms — that  "scene"  which 
Froude  calls  "the  finest  in  modern  history," — 
when  he  uttered  the  memorable  words :  "  Here  I 


22 


stand,  I  cannot  do  otherwise;  God  help  me, 
Amen!" 

Accordingly,  Luther's  first  great  work  was  to 
translate  the  Bible  and  place  it,  in  the  simplest 
language,  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  Preaching, 
too,  at  once  resumed  the  chief  place  from  which 
it  had  been  supplanted  in  the  Mediaeval  services. 
From  Luther's  own  pulpit  in  Wittenberg  and 
from  Lutheran  pulpits  everywhere  the  Word  of 
God  resounded,  as  it  did  of  old  when  Christ  and 
his  Apostles  "came  preaching  the  kingdom  of 
God."  And  when  the  Augsburg  confession  was 
set  forth  as  the  chief  symbol  of  the  Lutheran 
faith,  it  was  a  mere  republication  of  the  teaching 
of  Holy  Scripture.  Accordingly  when  the  Roman 
Catholic  Duke  of  Bavaria  said  to  the  theologian 
Eck:  "Can  you  refute  by  sound  reasons,  this 
their  confession?"  "With  the  writings  of  the 
Apostles  and  Prophets — no,"  replied  Eck;  "but 
with  those  of  the  Fathers  and  Councils — yes." 
"I  understand,"  replied  the  Duke,  "the  Lutherans 
according  to  you,  are  in  the  Scripture ;  and  we 
are  outside." 

And  this  peculiarity  still  characterizes  the 
Lutheran  Church,  not  only  as  over  against  the 
Roman,  but  even  measurably  the  Reformed 
Churches.       The    position    of    Lutheranism    in 


23 

respect  to  the  Word  of  God  is  unique.  In  no 
christian  communion  does  it  hold  so  unequivocably 
the  place  of  absolute  authority.  Such  was  the 
reverence  of  Luther  for  the  Bible  that  he  does 
not  scruple  to  say  that  we  must  look  upon  the 
Scripture  as  "  if  God  himself  had  spoken  therein," 
and  he  calls  the  Holy  Spirit  "the  most  clear  and 
simple  writer  there  is  in  heaven  and  on  earth."* 
And  this  same  reverence  has  passed  into  the 
Church  holding  his  name.  For,  while  we  gladly 
concede  the  prominence  which  all  christian 
Churches,  Greek,  Roman,  and  Reformed,  give  to 
the  Scripture,  yet  the  Bible  does  hold  a  special 
pre-eminence  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  such  as  it 
has  not  elsewhere. 

With  it  the  Word  of  God  is  the  chief  Means 
of  Grace.  It  is  the  source  of  the  efficacy  of  the 
Sacraments.  It  is  the  seed  of  the  spiritual  life. 
It  is  the  organ  of  our  personal  relation  to  Christ 
by  which  He  lives  in  the  believer.  It  is  the 
instrument  of  sanctification,  the  formative  power 
of  growth  in  grace,  "  Sanctify  them  through  thy 
truth,  thy  Word  is  truth"  (John  xvii;  17).  And 
it  is  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 
The  Word,  therefore,  in  the  Lutheran  Church  is 

*Walch— XVIII,  pp.  1456,  1602. 


24 

the  supreme  and  all  sufficient  spiritual  agent. 
Nor  is  it  held  as  necessary  to  its  effect  that  it  be 
attended  with  concomitant  agencies  and  appliances 
of  human  wisdom  and  "human  machinery."  But 
rather  do  these  supplant  and  enfeeble  it,  even  as 
Oetinger  complained  that  the  followers  of  Zinzen- 
dorf  placed  more  reliance  upon  the  singing  of  his 
emotional  hymns  than  they  did  upon  the  Word 
of  God.  For  when  simply  and  purely  preached 
it  exerts  its  utmost  spiritual  influence:  "That 
your  faith  should  not  stand  in  the  wisdom  of 
men,  but  in  the  power  of  God"  (I.  Cor.  ii;  5).  It 
therefore,  is  the  staple  of  Lutheran  preaching,  and 
the  centre  of  every  Lutheran  service. 

No  Church  so  closely  moulds  its  confessions, 
its  theology,  its  liturgical  services,  its  hymnology, 
its  devotional  literature,  and  its  simple  christian 
life  after  the  Scriptures,  as  does  the  Lutheran. 

With  her  the  Church  stands  by  and  depends 
upon  the  authority  of  Scripture,  and  not  Scripture 
upon  the  authority  of  the  Church. 

Emphatically  among  her  ecclesiastical  sisters 
may  she  wear  the  title :  The  Bible  Church.  Fitly 
thus  does  the  historian  Kurtz,  term  her:  "The 
Church  of  the  pure  doctrine."  And  Dr.  Schaff 
says  of  her:  "The  Lutheran  Church  meditated 
over  the  deepest  mysteries  of  divine  grace  and 


25 

brought  to  light  many  treasures  of  knowledge 
from  the  mines  of  revelation.  She  can  point  to 
an  unbroken  succession  of  learned  divines  who 
devoted  their  whole  life  to  the  investigation  of 
saving  truth."*  The  Lutheran  Church  accord- 
ingly has  no  sympathy  with  the  low  and  loose 
views  current  in  some  Protestant  quarters,  re- 
specting the  sacred  oracles.  She  does  not  con- 
sider the  Bible  as  merely  the  imperfect  record  of 
a  divine  revelation,  but  she  holds  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  so  superintended  the  authors  as  to  make 
the  scripture  writings  verily  what  they  profess  to 
be,  viz.:  The  Word  of  God.  She  does  not  view 
the  Scriptures  as  a  promiscuous  intermixture  of 
human  error  and  divine  wisdom,  to  be  separated 
by  the  reader.  To  her  the  Bible  is  "  The 
Word  of  God  which  liveth  and  abideth  forever." 
(I.  Pet.  i;  23.)  For  her  the  Bible  is  no  book  of 
man's  oriofin,  but  in  it  she  hears  the  voice  of 
"God,  who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners 
spake  in  times  past  unto  the  fathers  by  the 
prophets."  (Heb.  i;  i.)  And  therefore  she  does 
not  receive  the  Bible  with  conditions  and  com- 
promising qualifications,  but  she  receives  it  as 
reverently  as  did  St.  Paul,  to  wit:  "For  I  neither 

*Lutheranism  and  Reform,  p.  174. 


26 

received  it  of  man,  neither  was  I  taught  it,  but  by 
the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ."     Gal.  i;  12. 

The  Lutheran  Church  does  not  then  with  one 
breath  receive  the  Scriptures,  while  with  the 
other  she  invalidates  them  by  a  low  theory  of 
inspiration,  but  to  her  they  present  "not  the  words 
which  man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  vv^hich  the 
Holy  Ghost  teacheth."  (I.  Cor.  ii ;  13.)  Therefore 
her  position  is  that  which  Dorner  quotes  as  that 
of  Luther,  viz.:  "God  in  revelation  is  God  in  the 
Word.  In  the  Word  thou  shouldst  hear  nothing 
else  than  thy  God  speaking  to  thee."*  Or  as  the 
great  theologian,  Gerhard,  writes  :  "  Although  God 
did  not  directly  write  the  Scriptures,  yet  it  is  God 
and  indeed  God  alone,  who  inspired  the  prophets 
and  apostles,  not  only  as  they  spoke,  but  also  as 
they  wrote;  and  He  made  use  of  their  lips,  their 
tongues,  their  hands,  their  pen."f 

■  The  Lutheran  Church  then  regards  the  Scrip- 
tures as  the  revelation  of  God's  Word  and  Will, 
and  hence  the  one  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and 
practice.  By  this  standard,  therefore,  she  frames 
her  creed,  moulds  her  theology,  and  shapes  her 
system  of  ethics.  And  with  these  high  views  of 
Scripture,    she    does  not   stumble    at   what  that 

*  History  of  Protestant  Theology,  Vol.  I,  p.  107. 
•fSchmid's  Lutheran  Theology,  p.  69. 


27 

Word  reveals.  What  God  affirms  she  receives 
with  impHcit  faith,  beHeving  that  His  power  is 
equal  to  His  word,  and  that  what  He  says  He 
can  do.  Hence  she  does  not  hesitate  where 
the  Scripture  doctrine  involves  a  mystery.  But 
despite  the  arguments  of  the  skeptical  reason, 
and  the  sneers  and  taunts  of  infidels,  "as  a  little 
child"  she  "receives  with  meekness  the  engrafted 
Word."     (James  i;  21.) 

As  Luther,  in  the  colossal  bronze  group  at 
Worms,  stands  with  the  open  Bible  in  his  hand, 
and  his  face  upturned  to  heaven — the  noblest 
artistic  impersonation  of  moral  grandeur  in  the 
world — so  does  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 
stand  upon  the  impregnable  rock  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture. And  it  is  this  Rock  upon  which,  as  a 
Lutheran  Conference  has  recently  declared  in 
Berlin,  "the  wisdom  of  this  world  will  be  rent 
asunder." 


CHAPTER  V. 

JUSTIFICATION    BY    FAITH    THE    CENTRAL    LUTHERAN 
DOCTRINE. 


F  the  Word  of  God,  as  the  sole  fountain  of 
authority  for  the  christian  conscience,  as  over 
against  the  authority  of  Popes  and  Councils,  was 
the  chief  means  of  the  Reformation,  the  doctrine 
of  that  Word  most  potent  in  the  movement  was 
Justification  by  Faith.  This  central  truth  of  the 
New  Testament,  involving  the  very  heart  of 
Christ's  incarnation  and  redemptive  work,  had 
been  lost  sight  of  during  the  Middle  Ages. 
Instead  of  teaching  that  the  sinner  was  justified 
freely  by  faith  in  Christ's  blood  and  righteousness, 
justification  had  been  made  dependent  on  human 
works  and  merits  and  narrowed  to  priestly  inter- 
vention. Consequently  a  system  of  penances, 
indulgences,    masses,    repetitions,    and   monkish 


29 

routine,  had  come  in  vogue,  instead  of  simple 
spiritual  piety.  Not  only  did  these  heavily  burden 
and  oppress  the  conscience,  but  they  placed  a 
bar  between  the  soul  and  its  immediate  living 
intercourse  with  the  Savior.  All  Christendom  was 
groaning  under  this  intolerable  perversion. 

But  when  Luther  had  reopened  the  Bible,  and 
studied  it  carefully  for  himself,  he  discovered  this 
lost  cardinal  principle  of  Christianity.  Especially 
one  day,  when  on  a  pious  pilgrimage  to  Rome, 
while,  as  a  work  of  penance,  climbing  Pilate's 
staircase,  the  Pauline  passage:  "The  just  shall 
live  by  Faith/'  flashed  upon  his  mind,  then 
did  he  awaken  to  the  falsity  and  absurdity  of 
this  whole  system  of  meritorious  works.  He 
realized  that  it  was  a  total  misconception  of  the 
gospel.  That  it  was  the  servile  routine  of  the 
slave  and  not  the  loving,  joyous  obedience  of  the 
Son.  At  this  discovery  a  great  burden  rolled 
from  Luther's  soul.  He  saw  that  what  all  his 
monastic  penances  and  self-mortifications  failed 
to  procure,  was  freely  offered  him  through  sim- 
ple trust  in  the  all  atoning  merits  of  the  crucified 
Lamb  of  God.  Then  Luther  for  the  first  time 
experienced  true  and  perfect  spiritual  peace.  He 
had  now,  so  to  speak,  found  the  key  of  the  lost 
Paradise.    And  he  now  goes  forth  from  his  closet. 


30 

where  God  has  made  him  a  free  man  in  Christ 
Jesus,  to  give  this  boon  of  spiritual  freedom  to 
the  world. 

Henceforth  this  becomes  "the  one  central 
point  in  Luther's  heart  and  life,  in  his  theology 
and  in  the  testimony  of  the  Church  called  after 
him, — namely,  the  clearness,  firmness,  and  joyful- 
ness,  of  that  justifying  taith  which  was,  then,  for 
the  first  time  since  the  days  of  the  apostles, 
restored  in  its  fullness  to  the  Christian  Church." 
Wielding  in  his  unique  personality  this  vital 
Evangelical  doctrine  he  broke  the  Papal  bondage 
of  a  thousand  years,  reformed  the  corrupted 
Church  of  Christ,  created  a  new  historic  epoch, 
opened  the  door  of  the  modern  era,  and  trans- 
formed the  whole  condition  of  man.  That  we 
are  "justified  by  faith,"  that  this  faith  introduces 
us  into  a  personal  union  with  Christ,  and  that 
this  new  spiritual  life  issues  in  good  works — this 
pivotal  gospel  truth — is  the  explanation  of  all  our 
unwonted  modern  progress.  The  superior 
enlightenment  of  Protestant  over  Romish  nations, 
the  greater  spirituality  and  practical  piety  of 
Protestant  peoples,  and  the  unfettered  advance 
of  education,  liberty,  and  the  arts  and  sciences, 
since  the  reformation,  are  all  owing  to  this  vital 
evangelical  principle. 


31 

And  if  this  is  the  chief  factor  that  differentiates 
Lutheranism  from  Romanism,  it  also  to  no  small 
degree  distinguishes  the  Lutheran  from  the 
Reformed  Churches.  For,  while  the  Reformed 
Churches  owe  their  origin  to  this  same  principle, 
and  more  or  less  hold  and  confess  it,  yet  they  by 
no  means  have  the  clear  grasp  of  it  had  by 
the  Lutheran  Church.  It  does  not  with  them 
hold  the  primary  place  that  it  does  in  Lutheranism, 
where  it  is,  as  Luther  termed  it,  the  articulus  stantis 
aut  cadentis  ecclesiae,  i.  e.  article  of  the  standing  or 
falling  of  the  Christian  Church.  For  example,  in 
the  Calvinistic  system,  while  Justification  by  Faith 
has  a  place,  it  is  yet  made  secondary  to  the  abso- 
lute sovereignty  and  decree  of  God,  which, 
without  any  sphere  for  man's  voluntary  action,  is 
the  sole  cause  of  faith.  "The  Lutheran  Church 
has  always  been  a  unit  in  the  rejection  of  those 
gloomy  errors  which  centre  in  the  theory  of 
absolute  election  to  faith.  While  she  never 
swerved  from  the  fundamental  truth  that  salvation 
is  by  grace  alone,  she  just  as  firmly  maintained 
the  other  fundamental  truth,  that  salvation  is  by 
faith  alone,  as  the  only  means  by  which  the  soul 
can  appropriate  the  merits  of  Christ."*     "Angli- 

*Distinctive  Doctrines  and  Usages  of  the  Luthera  n  Church,  p.  29 


32 

canism  has  sought  to  confine  Christ's  grace  to 
narrow  channels.  Methodism  often  dims  His 
crown  by  its  conjunction  of  experiences  and 
works  with  grace."*  Lutheran  theology  on  the 
other  hand  is  Christo-centric.  All  revolves  about 
Christ  as  the  shining  centre.  And  as  a  matter  of 
fact  there  is  a  wide  spread  degeneracy  in  much 
Protestant  teaching  in  regard  to  this  great  central 
article  of  Justification  by  Faith.  In  how  many 
pulpits  is  the  death  of  Christ  on  the  cross  robbed 
of  its  significance  as  a  vicarious  sacrifice,  and 
reduced  to  a  mere  moral  example.  That  He  was 
the  infinitely  precious  offering  over  against  an 
infinite  guilt  of  sin;  that  He  by  His  suffering 
paid  man's  full  penalty;  and  that  we  have 
remission  of  sins  through  His  blood ;  is  not  only 
ignored  but  openly  denied,  and  even  represented 
as  morally  unjust  and  revolting.  A  far  worse  and 
more  fatal  error  this  than  that  Romish  perversion 
against  which  Luther  raised  his  protest! 

And  others,  thoroughly  evangelical  in  most 
respects,  still  misconceive  and  misjudge  this  great 
principle  of  Lutheranism.  Thus,  the  late  Canon 
Liddon  speaks  slightingly  of  "  Luther's  imputa- 
tion   doctrine,"    as  one    for  which    he    had    "no 

•Lutherans  in  America,  Wolf,  p.  519. 


33 

sympathy,  as  it  often  led  to  lax  morality,  etc.," 
and  then  adds  condescendingly  that  "good 
Lutherans  are  always  better  than  their' theory."* 
Yet  the  Gospel  does  not  fear  that  it  will  "lead  to 
lax  morality"  when  it  makes  salvation  conditional 
on  faith  alone  saying :  "  He  that  believeth  on  the 
Son  hath  everlasting  life."  (John  iii ;  36.)  Nor 
was  St.  Paul  fearful  that  this  doctrine  of  Christ 
would  lead  to  fruitlessness  in  good  works,  when 
he  declared:  "Therefore  we  conclude  that  a  man 
is  justified  by  faith  without  the  deeds  of  the  law." 
(Rom.  iii;  28.)  This  idea  that  the  Lutheran 
doctrine  fosters  indifference  to  good  works, 
whether  urged  by  Romanists  or  Protestants,  is 
an  utter  perversion  both  of  Scriptural  and  Luth- 
eran teaching.  The  Scripture  teaches  definitely 
and  cumulatively  that  the  ground  of  our  justi- 
fication is  solely  and  absolutely  the  blood  and 
righteousness  of  Christ,  and  that  the  only  means 
of  our  justification  is  faith  which  lays  hold  upon 
the  great  "propitiation  for  sinners.''  But  this 
is  not  a  mere  intellectual  assent,  such  as  Canon 
Liddon  speaks  of,  or  Paul,  when  he  says: 
"The  devils  believe  and  tremble."  But  it  is  a 
"Faith  which  worketh  by  love."    (Gal.  v;  6.)    A 

♦Majrazine  of  Christian  Literature,  March,  i8go 


34 

faith  quickened  by,  aglow  with,  and  fruitful 
unto  love.  And  the  outcome  and  test  of  this 
living  faith  are  good  works.  The  sinner  forgiven 
much  loves  much.  The  greater  the  free  love  and 
pardon  of  Christ,  the  greater  his  impulse  toward 
a  life  of  grateful,  good  works.  The  new  life  born 
of  faith  is  the  Christ-life  of  love  to  God  and  the 
service  of  fellowmen.  "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall 
know  them."  And  this  vital  Protestant  prin- 
ciple has  so  illustrated  its  practical  force  in  the 
moral  regeneration  of  the  world  as  to  render 
quite  superfluous  any  vindication  of  it. 

Two  fundamental  departures  from  the  evangeli- 
cal tenet  of  justification  are  conspicuous  in  the 
Protestantism  of  to-day.  One  is  that  which  dis- 
connects Faith  from  its  scriptural  relation  to  the 
Church.  For  while  Faith  is  the  sole  condition  of 
salvation  it  is  mediated  through  the  Word  and 
Sacraments.  Saving  faith  is  generated  by  the 
Holy  Scriptures  and  nurtured  by  the  Sacraments. 
That  Faith  is  thus  oriven  throuo^h  the  Means  of 
Grace,  and  not  to  be  violently  disjoined  from 
God's  historical  instrumentality  for  salvation — the 
Church — is  the  true  evangelical  order. 

The  other  current  error  is  the  position  so 
frequently  heralded  from  Protestant  pulpits  that 
doctrines,  beliefs,  and  confessions,  have  little  or 


35 

nothing  to  do  with  Christianity,  that  it  matters 
not  what  a  man  believes,  but  only  what  he  does. 
Life  is  made  the  all  important  thing,  and  Faith 
quite  relegated  to  the  background,  as  altogether 
indifferent.  The  Lutheran  Christian  sees  here 
simply  bald  Judaism  or  Paganism.  This  is  the 
inversion  and  invalidation  of  the  Gospel  teaching. 
''Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved,"  (Acts  xvi;  31.)  was  the  apostolic 
message.  This  preaching,  which  was  "to  the 
Greeks  foolishness"  and  "to  the  Jews  a  stone  of 
stumbling,"  carried  with  it  "the  power  of  God,'' 
and  changed  the  face  of  the  world.  In  the  divine 
plan  Faith  precedes  and  orders  Life.  We  are 
"justified  by  Faith,"  and  the  vital  principle  thus 
imparted  "works  by  Love,"  to  the  production  of 
the  new  christian  life.  Thus,  what  we  believe  we 
do,  is  the  Christian  answer  to  Jew,  Pagan,  and 
Infidel.  "The  great  thing  in  true  Religion  is  the 
Faith — the  Creed — the  facts  and  doctrines  on 
which  the  soul  rests  for  peace  and  salvation. 
There  can  be  no  right  Religion  without  a  right 
Faith."*  "Credo" — I  believe — is  the  confession 
which  lies  at  the  very  starting  point  of  the 
christian  course. 

*The  Golden  Altar,  J.  A.  Seiss,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  p.  ii. 


36 

The  open  and  tacit  assaults  thus  made  upon 
this  great  material  principle  of  the  Reformation, 
show  what  vital  departures  are  taking  place  from 
the  Evangelical  doctrines  of  Luther  and  the 
Reformers,  and  that  the  Lutheran  must  needs 
stand  for  the  truth  to-day  as  of  old.  As,  then, 
the  central  doctrine  of  her  theological  system, 
the  great  distinctive  article  of  her  Church,  and 
the  root  principle  of  all  her  works  of  practical 
piety,  Lutheranism  writes  upon  the  banner  which 
she  holds  up  before  a  lost  race  this  sentence — 
the  very  heart  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ. — "Justi- 
fication BY  Faith." 


CHAPTER  VI. 


THE  SACRAMENTS  IN  THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH. 

SACRAMENT  is  the  Latin  form  of  the  New 
Testament  Greek  word, '' Musterion,"  whence 
comes  our  English  word  Mystery.  The  Sacra- 
ments thus  denote  the  sacred  mysteries  of 
Christianity — the  holiest  ordinances  of  our 
religion.  The  two  Sacraments — Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper — were  instituted  by  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  nature  and  intent  of  the  Sacraments  are 
thus  defined  in  Lutheran  theology :  "They  are 
holy  rites,  appointed  by  God,  through  which,  by 
means  of  visible  signs,  grace  is  imparted  to  man."* 
That  is,  God  has  instituted  the  Holy  Sacraments 
to  convey  renewing  grace  to  the  soul.  In 
each  Sacrament,  therefore,  there  are  two      factors, 

♦Doctrinal  Theology  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  Schn.id     p.  537. 


38 

the  divine  invisible  gift,  and  the  earthly  visible 
sign.  And  the  relation  between  the  two  is  that 
the  latter  is  the  instrument,  or  means  of  the 
former.  That  is,  the  visible  element  is  the  vessel 
through  which  the  invisible  gift  is  conveyed 
and  given,  as  it  is  written:  "This  treasure  we 
have  in  earthen  vessels."  (2.  Cor.  iv ;  7.)  Thus, 
in  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  the  outward  element 
is  water,  and  the  invisible  grace  offered,  or  given 
through  the  water  is  spiritual  washing  or 
regeneration.  So,  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  out- 
ward, or  visible  elements  are  Bread  and  Wine, 
and  the  invisible  elements  given  through  them 
are  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ. 

These  two  elements  are  not  to  be  confused 
or  mixed  together,  neither  are  they  to  be  sepa- 
rated one  from  the  other.  But  they  are  to  be 
connected  by  this  sacramental  union,  viz.  that  one 
is  the  vessel,  or  means  of  the  other.  To  oret  the 
invisible  gift  the  outward  element  must  be 
used.  "What,  therefore,  God  hath  joined 
together,  let  not  man  put  asunder."  The  Sacra- 
ments thus  are  not  mere  figures  or  signs,  but 
they  are  means  of  grace.  W^hat  they  signify  they 
also  convey.  They  are  the  earthly  instruments 
of  God's  blessed  spiritual  gifts.  And  as  they  are 
the  institutions  of  God,  so  man's  faith  or  unbelief 


39 

can  neither  make  nor  unmake  them.  It  can  but 
determine  their  effect.  He  who  observes  them 
with  faith  receives  their  grace  to  his  unspeakable 
good,  and  he  who  observes  them  impenitently 
profanes  their  gift  to  his  nameless  hurt.  "  Religion 
[according  to  the  Lutheran  conception]  is  not  the 
Puritan  idea  of  God's  Law,  but  the  Gospel  idea 
of  God's  Love.  Yet  God's  love  is  not  as  loose 
as  are  the  prevailing  views  of  it.  It  has  an 
appointed  way  of  making  men  righteous.  And 
this  way  is  not  a  vague,  individualistic  influence 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  over  men's  impulses  and  emo- 
tions, but  it  is  a  way  of  definite  and  objective 
means  of  Grace  through  which  alone  the  Holy 
Spirit  ordinarily  works.  These  means  of  Grace 
are  His  Word,  which  both  reofenerates  and 
strengthens,  and  two  Sacraments,  one  of  which 
implants  the  new  life,  while  the  other  feeds  it. 
To  Lutherans  then,  the  Gospel  of  God's  love, 
revealed  in  Christ  and  received  through  Christ's 
means  of  grace,  is  the  sum  and  substance  of  all."* 

Such  is  the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Sacraments.  It  complies  with  the  Scriptural 
teaching,  which  always  unites  divine  grace  with 
the  outward  sacramental  elements.     And  it  does 

*The  Lutheran  Church,  Rev.  Theo.  C.  Schmauk,  D.D. 


40 

no  violence  to  our  senses  which  show  us  that  no 
change  has  taken  place  in  the  elements,  which 
simply  remain  as  before,  viz.  natural  Water,  Bread 
and  Wine. 

But  this  view  of  the  Sacraments,  as  held  by 
the  Lutherans,  we  at  once  notice  is  clearly  distinct 
from  that  held  both  by  the  Roman  Catholics,  and 
by  the  other  Protestant  Churches.  The  Roman 
Catholics  mix  the  outward  element  and  the  invis- 
ible grace,  saying  that  one  is  changed  into  the 
other.  This  view  contradicts  the  evidence  of  the 
senses.  And  the  other  Protestant  Churches  vio- 
lently disjoin  and  separate  the  invisible  and  the 
visible  elements,  for  they  deny  that  the  latter  are 
instruments  of  the  former.  They  teach  that  the 
earthly  elements  are  only  figures  or  signs,  and 
not  means  of  grace.  That  the  participant  receives. 
no  grace  whatever  through  the  sacramental 
elements.  Whatever  blessing  he  experiences  at 
the  time  he  receives  through  his  mind  or  spirit, 
apart  from  the  direct  external  use.  This  latter 
view  contradicts  the  teaching  of  Scripture.  It 
also  deprives  the  Sacrament  of  all  direct  efficacy. 
And  the  question  at  once  arises,  if  God  did  not 
mean  them  to  be  the  instruments  of  any  blessing, 
why  did  He  institute  them,  and  ordain  their 
observance?     But  how  much  more  natural  it  is 


41 

to  think  that  what  divine  wisdom  and  beneficence 
have  set  up  with  such  solemn  sanctions,  are  not 
empty  signs,  but  richly  filled  vessels — are  not 
utterly  devoid  of  efificacy,  but  clothed  with  spirit- 
ual might  and  power.  From  this  presentation, 
the  incomparably  purer,  richer,  and  more 
Scriptural  view  of  the  Sacraments  held  by  the 
Lutheran  Church,  than  that  held  by  either  the 
Roman  or  Reformed  Churches,  will  appear. 

It  is  sometimes  charged  upon  the  Lutheran 
Church  that  she  teaches  Sacramentarianism,  i.  e. 
that  the  Sacraments  will  produce  their  effects  with- 
out faith,  or  a  worthy  spiritual  state,  and  that  she 
exalts  the  Sacraments  over  the  Word  of  God. 
Both  these  charges  are  fully  refuted  by  our  highest 
authorities.  Article  XIII  of  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession teaches  of  the  Use  of  Sacraments : 
"Therefore  men  must  use  Sacraments  so  as  to 
join  faith  with  them,  which  believes  the  promises 
that  are  offered  and  declared  unto  us  by  the 
Sacraments.  Wherefore  they  condemn  those 
who  teach  that  the  Sacraments  do  justify  by  the 
work  done,  and  do  not  teach  \k\2X  faith  is  requisite 
in  the  use  of  Sacraments."  The  same  views  are 
constantly  upheld  by  our  representative  theologi- 
cal writers.  Thus,  says  that  prince  of  Lutheran 
theologians,    Chemnitz:    "The     efficacy     of    the 


42 

Sacraments  is  not  such  as  if  througfh  them  God  in- 
fused,  and,  as  it  were,  impressed  grace  and  salva- 
tion, even  on  unbehevers  or  beHevers."*  So  also, 
Hollazius  :  "The  Sacraments  confer  no  grace  on 
adults,  unless  when  offered,  they  receive  it,  by  true 
faith,  which  existed  in  their  hearts  previously."* 
All  Lutherans  urge  the  necessity  of  moral  fitness 
for  the  Sacrament,  and  likewise  attach  all  its 
efficacy  to  the  Word  of  God.  As  Augustine  says 
the  Sacrament  is  "the  visible  word,"  so  our  theo- 
logians teach  that  "strictly  speaking  there  is  but 
07ie  means  of  salvation,  which  is  distinguished 
as  the  audible  and  visible  word."f  It  is  as  Luther 
says  in  the  Catechism:  "The  eating  and  drink- 
ing, indeed,  do  not  produce  these  great  effects, 
but  THE  Words  which  stand  here." 

The  Lutheran  Church,  then,  teaches  so  just 
and  discriminating  a  significance  of  the  Word  and 
Sacraments  that  we  may  fitly  apply  to  her  the 
striking  apothegm  of  Claus  Harms,  when  in  1817 
he  raised  the  banner  of  evangelical  Christianity 
against  the  devastating  inundation  of  unbelief,  viz: 
I.  "The  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  a  glorious 
Church ;   she    holds    and    forms   herself  pre-emi- 

*  Doctrinal  Theology  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  p.  550. 
-[•Ibid — Quenstedt,  p.  538. 


43 

nently  by  the  Sacrament.  II.  The  Reformed 
Church  is  a  glorious  Church  ;  she  holds  and  forms 
herself  pre-eminendy  by  the  Word  of  God. 
III.  More  glorious  than  either  is  the  Evangeli- 
cal Lutheran  Church ;  she  holds  and  forms  her- 
self pre-eminendy  by  the  Sacrament  and  the 
Word  of  God."* 

This  one  point  alone,  the  true  scriptural  teaching 
of  the  Lutheran  Church  respecting  the  Holy 
Sacraments,  gives  to  her  a  pre-eminence  in 
Christendom,  invests  her  with  a  lever  of  spiritual 
power,  and  makes  her  the  custodian  of  an 
incomparable  divine  treasure,  which,  while  it 
holds  the  promise  of  such  great  things  for  her 
future,  should  also  stimulate  inviolable  devotion 
on  the  part  of  her  members. 

•Kahilis'  History  of  Gexinai)  I'rotestantism,  p.  225. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


THE    LUTHERAN    DOCTRINE    OF    BAPTISM. 

LUTHERANS  teach  that  Baptism,  according 
to  the  Scriptures,  is  the  initial  Sacrament. 
It  is  the  door  of  entrance  into  the  visible  king- 
dom of  God.  It  is  the  seal  of  the  new  covenant 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  gate  of 
admission  into  the  Holy  Christian  Church.  It  is 
the  beginning  of  the  christian  life.  Accordingly 
it  differs  from  the  Lord's  Supper  in  that  it  is 
administered  but  once,  at  the  entrance  upon  the 
spiritual  life,  whereas  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  the 
sacrament  of  renewal,  must  be  continually 
repeated. 

Let  us  look  at  the  Nature,  Subjects,  and  Mode 
of  Baptism,  in  the  Lutheran  Church. 

I.  Nature.  Baptism  as  a  Sacrament,  illus- 
trates the  truths  laid  down  in  the  last  chapter. 


45 

"By  Baptism,"  says  the  IXth  Article  of  the 
Augsburg  Confession,  "grace  is  offered."  It  is 
then  no  mere  symboHc  rite,  but  it  is  a  means  of 
grace,  conveying  to  the  subject  the  spiritual  gift 
which  it  typifies.  What  is  this  Baptismal  grace  ? 
The  Scriptures  answer:  "Except  a  man  be  born 
of  ivater  ajtd  of  the  Spirit,  he  cannot  enter  into 
the  kingdom  of  God."  (John  iii ;  5.)  "  Be  baptized 
and  wash  away  thy  sins."  (Acts  xxii ;  16.) 
"According  to  His  mercy  He  saved  us,  by  the 
washing  of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."     (Titus  iii ;  5.) 

These  and  corresponding  passages  show  that 
Baptism  is  the  bodily  application  of  water  with 
faith,  and  that  the  divine  grace  therein  offered  is 
new  spiritual  birth,  or  regeneration,  by  the  gift 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  This  is  the  Lutheran  teach- 
ing, as  Luther  defines  in  the  catechism:  "When 
connected  with  the  Word  of  God,  it  is  a  Baptism 
i.  e.  a  gracious  water  of  life  and  a  'washing  of 
regeneration'  in  the  Holy  Ghost."  Baptism  then 
is  the  sacramental  rite  instituted  as  the  ordinary 
means  of  the  beginning  of  the  new  spiritual  life 
in  the  soul.  Where  there  is  a  trinal  application 
of  water,  with  the  words  of  Institution,  and  a 
believing  heart,  there  the  Holy  Ghost  is  out- 
poured to  cleanse  original  and  actual  sin,  and  to 


46 

recreate    the    personality    in    the    divine    image. 

"Reason"  indeed  says  Luther,  "can  never 
understand  how  Baptism  is  alaver  of  regeneration, 
but  what  God  says  is  true  whether  my  senses 
corroborate  it  or  not.  He  is  omnipotent  and  can 
fulfill  His  Word."*  This  Baptismal  Grace  is  not 
conveyed  magically,  but  only  in  accordance  with 
the  Scriptural  conditions.  It  can,  too,  be  lost, 
and  assuredly  will,  unless  "That  good  thing  which 
was  committed  unto  thee,"  thou  "keep  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  which  dwelleth  in  us."  (II.  Tim.  i;  14.) 
Very  precious,  rich,  and  comforting,  thus  is 
Baptism  according  to  the  Lutheran  view,  pre- 
senting a  wide  contrast  to  the  superficial  views 
too  largely  prevalent  respecting  this  Holy 
Sacrament. 

II.  Subjects.  Is  this  Sacrament  to  be  admin- 
istered alone  to  adults,  or  also  to  children?  The 
Augsburg  Confession  gives  this  direct  answer: 
"Children  are  to  be  baptized,  who  by  Baptism, 
being  offered  to  God,  are  received  into  divine 
favor."  So  also  Luther  writes:  "We  must 
declare  it  as  a  simple  fact,  that  a  child,  which  by 
nature  is  oppressed  with  sin  and  death,  begins 
eternal  life  at  the  time  of  its  Baptism."t     That 

♦House  Postils,  Vol.  I,  pp.  296  and  298. 
fHouse  Postils,  Vol.  II,  p.  337. 


47 

baptism  of  Children  was  the  primary  design  and 
rule — adult  baptism  being  the  exception,  in  such 
cases  where  the  Sacrament  had  been  neglected — 
is  shown  by  the  general  tenor,  and  individual  state- 
ments of  Scripture;  by  the  Apostolic  Baptisms;  and 
by  the  practice  of  the  primitive  Christian  Church. 

a.  The  analogy  of  Baptism  to  Circumcision  in 
the  Scriptures  sustains  the  Lutheran  doctrine. 
Circumcision  was  the  Old  Testament  rite  of  ad- 
mission into  God's  covenant.  Now,  as  it  was  ad- 
ministered to  children  at  eight  days  old,  the  con- 
clusion is  irresistible  that  Baptism  ordained  by 
Christ  to  take  the  place  of  circumcision,  must  also 
be  designed  for  children.  Where  is  the  authority 
for  supposing  that  little  children  who  even  "under 
the  law,"  were  admitted  into  the  Jewish  Church, 
should  under  the  "new  covenant"  of  "grace  and 
truth,"  be  excluded  from  the  Christian  Church.-* 
How  directly  contrary  this  would  be  to  those 
tender  words  of  Jesus  :  "  Suffer  the  little  children 
to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not;  for  of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  God."  (Mark  x ;  14.) 
And  also  to  the  declaration  of  St.  Peter,  on  the 
Pentecostal  day,  when  the  Church  was  founded : 
"For  the  promise  is  unto  you,  and  to  your 
children."     (Acts  ii ;  39.) 

b.  The   Household  Baptisms   of  the   apostles 


48 

show  the  same.  Thus,  when  Paul  "baptized 
Lydia  and  her  household''  (Acts  xvi;  15),  and  when 
the  jailer  was  "baptized  and  all  his''  (Acts  xvi; 
33),  or  when  Paul  says  :  "I  baptized  the  household 
of  Stephanus"  (I.  Cor.  i  ;  16),  is  it  not  manifest 
that  the  "household"  and  "all  his,"  and  like 
phrases,  were  specially  meant  to  include  the  little 
ones  of  the  domestic  circle  ? 

c.  Primitive  Church  Practice.  Origen,  one  of 
the  most  learned  fathers  of  the  early  Christian 
Church,  who  was  born  in  the  year  185,  when 
those  would  be  living  whose  fathers  could  have 
witnessed  the  apostolic  practice,  writes:  "The 
Church  has  received  it  from  the  apostles  that 
infants  are  to  be  baptized."  And  what  is  alto- 
gether conclusive,  is  that  in  the  year  252  an 
ecclesiastical  council  of  sixty-six  bishops  convened 
at  Carthage  delivered  the  decision :  "It  is  our 
unanimous  opinion  that  baptism  must  be  refused 
to  no  human  being,  so  soon  as  he  is  born." 
Truly,  therefore,  does  Dr.  F.  W.  Conrad  say: 
"The  early  Fathers  of  the  Christian  Church, 
including  Irenaeus,  Tertullian,  Origen,  Justin 
Martyr,  and  others,  represent  in  their  writings 
that  Infant  Baptism  was  a  universal  custom  derived 
from  the  apostles,  and  the  practice  was  continued 
in  the  entire  Christian  Church,  with  a  few  excep- 


49 

tions,  for  fifteen  hundred  years.  Furthermore, 
inscriptions  in  the  Catacombs  of  Rome,  giving  the 
ages  of  neophytes  or  baptized  children,  also 
demonstrate  the  fact  that  infant  baptism  was 
practiced  after  the  death  of  the  apostles,  in  the 
first  centuries  of  the  Church."*  And  the  historian, 
Guericke,  justly  remarks :  "Without  some  apos- 
tolical tradition,  it  is  wholly  inconceivable  how  the 
claim  of  Baptism  to  an  Apostolical  origin  could 
ever  have  gained  such  unhesitating  assent,  and 
been  generally  adopted  even  in  the  2nd  century."f 
The  only  objection  urged  against  these  cumu- 
lative testimonies  is  that  a  little  child  cannot  have 
faith.  But  does  not  our  Lord  answer  this,  when 
he  says:  "One  of  these  little  ones  which  believe 
in  me."  (Matt,  xviii ;  6.)  Luther  interpreted  this 
as  an  unconscious  faith,  discernible  to  God  alone. 
Augustine  argues  that  in  the  case  of  children  : 
"The  faith  of  the  Church  [represented  by  christian 
parents  or  sponsors,]  takes  the  place  of  their  own 
faith."J  As,  then,  faith  in  the  adult  is  necessary 
to  salvation,  but  children  can  be  saved  without 
faith,  so  though  faith  in  an  adult  be  necessary  to 
Baptism,  yet  children  can  be  baptized,  and  receive 

*0n  the  Lutheran  Doctrine  of  Baptism,  p.  133. 

fChristian  Antiquities,  p.  238. 

JXeander's  Church  History,  Vol.  II,  p.  670. 


50 

baptismal  grace,  without  conscious  faith.  And 
though  Baptism  is  thus  the  ordinary  means  of  the 
regeneration  of  infants,  yet  those  dying  unbaptized 
are  not  lost.  Lutheran  theologians  hold  that  noi  the 
want,  but  the  contempt  of  the  sacrament  condemns. 
Our  duty  is  bound  by  the  sacrament,  but  God's 
grace  is  not  thus  bound.  He  can  regenerate  and 
save  where  and  how  He  will.  Infants  dying  un- 
baptized are  not  lost.  Those  responsible  for  their 
baptism  will  be  held  answerable  for  the  neglect.* 

The  New  York  Independent  has  lately  shown, 
by  carefully  tabulated  statistics  of  all  religious 
denominations  in  the  United  States,  that  the  pro- 
portion of  Infant  Baptisms  in  the  Lutheran  Church 
is  more  than  twofold  larger  than  that  of  any  other 
Protestant  Church.  And  the  Watchman,  a  leading 
Baptist  journal,  remarks  that  this  is  owing  to  the 
Lutheran  doctrine  of  Baptismal  grace.  Where 
there  is  no  belief  of  direct  spiritual  efficacy  in  the 
sacrament  of  Baptism,  it  is  quite  natural  that  the 
rite  should  fall  into  neglect.  This  fact  accounts 
for  the  alarming  decadence  of  Infant  Baptism 
among  non- Lutheran  Churches.  The  most 
powerful  Presbyterian  Church  in  New  York  City, 
and  perhaps  in  the   U.  S.,  with  2000  members, 

*See   Luther's   views  on  this  interesting  point  fully   cited  by 
Krauth  on  Augsburg  Confession,  p.  63. 


51 

lately  reported  but  21  Infant  Baptisms  for  the 
year.  A  very  significant  illustration  this,  that 
belief  in  a  power  of  God  in  the  Sacraments  is 
necessary  to  maintain  their  observance. 

III.  Mode.  The  Lutheran  Church  practices 
Affusion,  i.  e.  pouring  or  sprinkling.  The  mode 
of  baptism  is  not  positively  indicated  in  Scripture. 
The  Baptism  of  Christ  in  the  Jordan  seems  to 
indicate  pouring.  And  His  baptism  is  so  repre- 
sented in  the  frescoes  of  the  Catacombs,  one  of 
which  is  supposed  to  date  from  the  second  century. 
So  also  Peter's  question:  "Can  any  man  forbid 
water,  that  these  should  not  be  baptized?"  (Acts 
x;  47),  certainly  indicates  the  application  of 
water  to  the  subject,  rather  than  the  immersion 
of  the  subject  in  the  water,  A  very  important 
testimony  as  to  the  practice  of  the  primitive 
Church  is  that  given  in  the  recently  discovered 
"Teaching  of  the  Apostles,"  a  book  dating  from 
a  time  quite  as  old  as  the  formation  of  our  New 
Testament  canon.  It  says:  "If  thou  have  not 
living  water,  baptize  into  other  water ;  and  if  thou 
canst  not  in  cold,  in  warm.  But  if  thou  have  not 
either,  pour  out  water  thrice  upon  the  head  into  the 
name  of  Father,  and  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit."*  This 

*Ante-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol.  VII,  p.  879. 


52 

proves  beyond  a  doubt  that  either  immersion  or 
aspersion  was  considered  a  legitimate  mode. 
That  is,  the  amount  of  water  was  not  deemed  an 
essential  factor  of  Baptism.  Only  those  features 
of  the  Sacrament  which  were  capable  of  universal 
use  were  made  absolute.  But  the  mode,  depending 
upon  conditions  of  climate  and  of  the  subject,  as 
for  example,  whether  sick  or  well,  was  left  open 
for  adaptation.  Thus  immersion,  which  could  be 
safely  used  in  a  mild  country  like  Palestine,  but 
would  be  impracticable  in  a  rigorous  one  like 
Russia,  was  not  designed  to  be  an  essential 
feature  of  the  rite.  But,  as  pouring  or  sprinkling 
can  be  used  in  all  countries  and  under  all  con- 
ditions, it  has,  with  legitimate  authority  and 
judicious  propriety,  come  into  well-nigh  universal 
use.  And  this  is  the  mode  practiced  in  the 
Lutheran  Church. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    LUTHERAN    DOCTRINE   OF    THE    LORD's    SUPPER. 

THE  most  solemn  institution  founded  by  Jesus 
Christ,  the  most  important  public  ordinance 
of  the  Christian  Church,  and  that  doctrine  which 
has  excited  deeper  interest  and  graver  discussion 
than  any  other  in  theology,  is  the  Lord's  Supper. 
And  it  is  just  this  holy  and  weighty  doctrine 
which  has  become  more  distinctive  of  Lutheranism 
than  any  other.  In  fact,  as  over  against  the  other 
Protestant  denominations,  it  may  be  called  the 
corner-stone  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  For  the 
view  of  the  Lord's  Supper  which  she  holds  and 
confesses,  in  harmony  with  the  saints  of  old,  has 
been  either  lost  sight  of,  or  definitely  repudiated 
by  the  great  majority  of  other  Protestants.  This 
view  has  been  fitly  termed — the  real  presence. 
It  is  thus  defined  in  Article  X  of  the  Augsburg 


54 

Confession :  "In  the  Lord's  Supper  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ  are  truly  present  under  the  form 
of  bread  and  wine,  and  are  there  communicated 
and  received."  It  will  be  seen  that  two  objects 
are  here  spoken  of  as  being  present  in  the  Lord's 
Supper.  One  is  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ, 
the  other  is  the  Bread  and  Wine.  The  Body 
and  Blood  are  the  invisible  divine  element,  the 
Bread  and  Wine  are  the  visible  earthly  element. 
And  the  relation  of  the  two  elements  is  that  the 
earthly  is  the  means  of  the  heavenly.  That  is, 
by  using  or  appropriating  the  Bread  and  Wine 
the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  are  received  and 
appropriated  by  the  communicant.  The  one  is 
not  changed  into  the  other,  so  that  the  divine  and 
earthly  elements  are  confused — which  is  the 
Roman  Catholic  error  of  Transubstantiation.  Nor 
are  the  divine  and  earthly  separated,  so  that  the 
Body  and  Blood  are  not  received  where  the  Bread 
and  Wine  are  taken — which  is  the  error  of  the 
other  Protestant  Churches — but  the  two  are  com- 
bined in  an  inseparable  and  yet  unmixed  union. 
This  is  called  the  sacramental  union.  And  it  is 
precisely  in  harmony  with  what  we  have  shown 
to  be  the  meaning  of  a  Sacrament,  viz.  an  invisible 
grace  conveyed  through  a  visible,  earthly  vessel. 
Now  let  us  look  at  the  reasons  which  prove 


55 

this  Lutheran  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence  to 
be  the  only  true  one.  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke, 
all  relate  that  on  the  evening  of  our  Lord's 
betrayal  he  took  bread  and  wine  and  declared  of 
them  these  words:  "Take  eat:  This  is  my  Body," 
— "Drink:  For  this  is  my  Blood."  To  St.  Paul, 
also,  the  Lord  after  His  ascension,  appeared  and 
uttered  the  identical  words  of  this  sacramental 
formula.  As  Dean  Stanley  therefore  says  of  this 
fourfold  iteration:  "These  famous  words  form  the 
most  incontestable  and  authentic  speech  of  the 
founder  of  our  religion."*  Now,  the  plain, 
natural  meaning  of  these  words  is  that  Christ  in 
the  Holy  Supper  gives  us  His  Body  and  Blood  to 
eat  and  to  drink.  And  the  only  question  between 
Lutheran  Christians  and  others  is  whether  He 
meant  what  He  said,  or  whether  He  did  not  mean 
what  He  said. 

The  chief  argument  advanced  to  maintain  the 
opposite  view  is  that  our  Lord's  words  were' 
figurative.  But  it  is  a  rule  of  Scripture  interpre- 
tation that  no  revealed  word  must  ever  be 
interpreted  figuratively,  where  the  direct  natural 
meaning  is  admissible.  On  any  other  principle 
all  the  truths  and  doctrines  of  Scripture  could  be 

'Christian  Institutions,  p.  95. 


56 

frittered  away  into  tropes  and  figures,  and  no 
positive  revelation  would  be  left.  And  it  seems 
quite  inconceivable  that  in  this  most  solemn  scene, 
and  with  these  words  so  precise  and  definite,  and 
given  us  in  fourfold  repetition  our  Lord  could 
have  been  disguising  his  meaning  in  symbolic 
language.  "To  suppose  that  at  such  a  holy  time 
as  this  He  spoke  in  metaphor,  is  contrary  to  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion,  the  meaning  of  the 
institution,  and  the  short,  precise  phrases  em- 
ployed."* St.  Paul  had  no  conception  of  a  merely 
figurative  significance,  when  he  challenged  unbe- 
lief on  this  very  point  thus :  "The  cup  of  blessing 
which  we  bless  is  it  not  the  communion  ['partici- 
pation in,'  as  the  Revised  Version  margin  literally 
renders  it]  of  the  Blood  of  Christ?  The  Bread 
which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  communion^  of  the 
Body  of  Christ?" 

For  a  Lutheran,  the  incontestable  word  of 
Scripture  is  sufficient.  Yet  to  make  the  certainty 
more  indubitable,  we  have  the  unbroken  witness 

*Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia — Lord's  Supper,  Vol.  II,  p.  1345. 

fThe  Greek  critical  scholar,  Alford,  thus  comments  on  this 
passage  :  '•^Kotvoavia,  the  participation  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ.  The  strong  literal  sense  must  here  be  held  fast  as  con- 
stituting the  very  kernel  of  the  Apostle's  argument.  If  we  are  to 
translate  this  taxiv  represents,  or  symbolizes,  the  argument  is 
made  void." 


57 

of  the  Church  down  through  all  the  ages.  Thus 
Irenaeus  (130  A.D.-202),  writes:  "When  the 
mingled  cup  and  the  broken  bread  receive  the 
words  of  God,  it  becomes  the  Eucharist  of  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ."  Ambrose  :  (340-398) 
"We,  receiving  of  one  bread  and  of  one  cup,  are 
receivers  of  the  Body  of  the  Lord."  Chrysos- 
tom:  (344-407)  "The  Bread  which  we  break,  is 
it  not  the  communion  of  the  Body  of  Christ?"  So 
unanimous  is  this  concurrence  that  the  Church 
historian,  Ruckert,  says:  "That  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ  were  given  and  received  in  the 
Lord's  Supper,  was,  from  the  beginning,  the 
general  faith.  No  one  opposed  this  in  the  ancient 
Church,  not  even  the  Arch-Heretics."*  And 
Luther  gives  this  powerful  sentence  in  regard  to 
it:  "This  article  [the  Real  Presence]  has  been 
unanimously  held  from  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  Church  up  to  this  year  1500,  as  may 
be  shown  from  the  writings  of  the  fathers,  both 
in  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages — which  testi- 
mony of  the  entire,  holy  Christian  Church  ought 
to  be  sufficient  for  us,  even  if  we  had  nothing 
more.""|- 

With    Lutherans    philosophical     objections    to 

•Lord's  Supper,  p,  297. 
fLetter  to  Albert  of  Prussia. 


58 

this  doctrine  are  destitute  of  weight.  We  believe 
that  God's  power  is  equal  to  His  Word,  and  that 
what  He  says,  He  can  also  do.  We  are  only 
asked  to  believe  the  fact,  the  manner  is  and 
remains  incomprehensible.  We  have  but  to  do 
with  the  What?  We  must  leave  to  God  the 
How?  The  sacramental  union  of  the  divine  and 
earthly  elements  is  indeed  a  holy  mystery,  but  no 
deeper  or  more  impenetrable  than  the  Incarnation, 
or  the  Resurrection,  or  the  Trinal  Unity.  We 
have  but  to  do  as  Thomas  a  Kempis  so  fitly 
counsels :  "  Human  reason  is  feeble  and  may  be 
deceived ;  but  true  faith  cannot  be  deceived. 
Thou  oughtest,  therefore,  to  beware  of  curious 
and  unprofitable  searching  into  this  most  profound 
sacrament,  if  thou  wilt  not  be  plunged  into  the 
depths  of  doubt.  But  go  forward  with  simple  and 
unquestioning  faith,  and  with  reverence  approach 
this  holy  sacrament,  and  whatsoever  thou  art  not 
able  to  understand,  commit  without  care  to 
Almighty  God."*  Where  there  is  this  childlike 
Christian  temper,  there  will  be  no  difficulty  in 
receiving  the  Scriptural  and  Lutheran  view  of 
the  Lord's  Supper.    . 

The  difference  in  the  reverence  for  the  Sacra- 

*Book  IV  ;  Chap.  XVIII. 


59 

ment,  and  in  its  practical  spiritual  efficacy  to  the 
communicant,  where  the  altar  is  approached  with 
these  strong,  rich  views,  or  where  it  is  considered 
a  mere  sign  and  empty  ceremony,  is  incalculable. 
To  the  latter  it  is  but  the  memorial  and  shadow 
of  a  dead  Christ,  to  the  former  it  is  a  blessed  com- 
munion with  the  living  and  glorified  Christ.  To 
the  latter  it  is  like  the  mirage  of  the  desert  which 
invites  and  then  disappoints  the  thirsty  trav- 
eler; to  the  former — partaking  with  a  believing 
heart — it  is  a  veritable  fountain,  whence  the  Real 
Presence  flows  out,  transmuting  all  the  landscape 
into  living  green,  filling  the  air  with  the  carols  of 
hope  and  the  fragrance  of  joy, — the  soul  irradiated 
and  entranced  by  "finding  Him  in  whom  it  liveth." 
The  Real  Presence  is  the  peerless  jewel  of  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church.  No  other  Prot- 
estant confession  now  professes  to  teach  it.  Of 
the  XXXIX  Articles  of  the  Church  of  England, 
for  which  the  claim  is  sometimes  made,  Dean 
Stanley  truly  says  that  in  them  "the  lion  of  Lu- 
theranism  and  the  lamb  of  Zwinglianism  lie  side 
by  side,  and  it  is  well  that  they  thus  consist,  or  they 
could  not  mutually  subsist."'^  Rejecting  Tran- 
substantiation,    Consubstantiation,    Impanation, 

♦Christian  Institutions,  p.  92. 


6o 

and  every  error,  which  in  any  way  mixes  and  con- 
fuses the  divine  grace  with  the  earthly  means,  or 
which  makes  Christ's  corporeal  presence  a  carnal 
or  physical  one,  she  holds,  that  after  a  heavenly  and 
incomprehensible  manner,  her  Lord  makes  true 
His  word,  and  gives  to  His  believing  disciples  in 
the  Holy  Supper,  His  Body  as  the  Bread  of  their 
spiritual  life,  and  His  Blood  for  the  remission  of 
sins. 

To  bear  witness,  in  the  very  heart  of  Pro- 
testantism, to  this  central  truth,  she  has  never 
wavered  during  three  and  a  half  centuries,  and 
never  will,  by  God's  help,  to  the  end  of  time. 
And  the  significance  of  this  stand  of  the  mother, 
and  greatest  Church  of  Protestantism,  can  not  be 
over-estimated,  in  its  bearing  on  the  Christian 
world.  It  deprives  Romanism  of  its  most  power- 
ful shibboleth  against  Protestantism,  viz.  that  it 
has  emptied  the  blessed  Sacrament  of  its  spiritual 
efficacy.  It  anchors  Lutheranism  safely  in  the 
conservative  faith  of  the  whole  Christian  Church 
as  over  against  the  deadly  inroads  of  modern 
Rationalism. 

And  it  augurs  more  than  anyone  can  forecast 
for  the  future.  Negations  are  barren,  positive 
beliefs  grow.  After  all — amid  the  mutable 
fashions  and   vagaries  of  transient   times — truth 


6i 

abides  regnant,  the  one  ever  advancing  and 
dominant  force  on  earth.  And  most  of  all  does 
this  hold  in  things  spiritual.  With,  then,  this  far- 
reaching  truth  of  the  Real  Presence,  lost  from  the 
coronet  of  her  Protestant  sisters,  but  glittering  a 
peerless  jewel  on  her  brow,  the  Lutheran  Church 
will  go  forward  with  an  incalculable  vantage. 
More  and  more  will  theologians  be  won  to  her 
doctrine,  and  devout  Christians  rally  to  her  side, 
and  more  and  more  thereby  will  she  become  the 
recognized  leader  in  God's  witness-bearing 
Church  to  mankind. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


LUTHERAN    CHURCH    POLITY,    OR    GOVERNMENT. 

AS  the  Scriptures  prescribe  no  definite  form  of 
Church  organization,  the  Lutheran,  being 
pre-eminently  a  Scriptural  Church,  does  the  same. 
Ecclesiastical  order  she  holds  to  be  a  matter  of 
freedom,  to  be  determined  by  the  varying 
exigencies  of  the  occasion.  While  doctrine  per- 
tains to  the  conscience,  order  pertains  to  expedi- 
ency. Accordingly,  Lutheran  Church  Polity,  or 
Government,  is  different  in  different  countries. 
In  Denmark,  Sweden,  Norway,  Finland,  Iceland, 
and  Transylvania,  it  is  Episcopal,  the  Church 
being  under  the  government  of  Bishops  and 
Arch- Bishops.  And  that  the  Lutherans  in 
Sweden  have  what  is  called  the  "historic  episco- 
pate" is  admitted  by  Episcopalians,  as  the  Bishop 
of  Connecticut  writes  of  "Swedish  Orders":    "If 


53 

anything  outside  the  domain  of  pure  mathematics 
may  be  said  to  be  capable  of  demonstration,  the 
reahty  of  the  Swedish  succession  is  demonstra- 
ted."* In  Germany,  again,  the  Lutheran  Church 
is  under  the  administration  of  Superintendents, 
Consistories,  etc.  In  America,  the  form  of  Church 
Constitution  is  Synodical,  and  many  congrega- 
tions are  entirely  independent. 

"The  idea  of  the  universal  priesthood  of  all 
believers  has  overthrown  in  the  Lutheran  Church 
the  doctrine  of  a  distinction  of  essence  between 
clergy  and  laity.  The  ministry  is  not  an  order, 
but  it  is  a  divinely  appointed  office,  to  which  men 
must  be  rightly  called.  No  imparity  exists  by 
divine  right;  an  hierarchical  organization  is  un- 
christian, but  a  gradation  may  be  observed, 
(bishops,  superintendents,  etc.)  as  a  thing  of 
human  right  only.  In  Sweden  the  bishops  em- 
braced the  Reformation,  and  thus  secured  in  that 
country  an  "apostolic  succession"  in  the  high- 
church  sense ;  though,  on  the  principles  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  alike  where  she  has  as  where 
she  has  not  such  a  succession,  it  is  not  regarded 
as  essential.  The  ultimate  source  of  power  is  in 
the  congregations,  that  is,  in  the  pastor  and  other 

*The  Historic  Episcopate  in  the    Lutheran  Church,   Lutheran 
Quarterly. — Manhart. 


64 

officers,  and  the  people  of  the  single  commu- 
nions."* Similarly  writes  Kurtz  of  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  Lutheran  Church :  "The  biblical  idea 
of  a  universal  priesthood  of  all  believers  would  not 
tolerate  the  retaining  of  an  essential  distinction 
between  the  clergy  and  the  laity.  The  clergy  were 
properly  designated  the  servants,  ministri,  of  the 
Church,  of  the  Word,  of  the  Altar.  Hierarchical 
distinctions  among  the  clergy  were  renounced,  as 
opposed  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  But  the 
advantages  of  a  superordination  and  subordination 
in  respect  of  merely  human  rights,  in  the  institu- 
tion of  such  offices  as  those  of  Superintendents. 
Provosts,  etc.,  were  recognized."f 

In  this  view  of  Church  Polity,  and  ecclesiastical 
orders,  the  Lutheran  Church  has  the  support  not 
only  of  Scripture,  but  of  the  Ancient  Church. 
Thus,  says  the  great  father  Augustine  [354-430 
A.  D.I :  "The  office  of  bishop  is  above  the  office 
of  priests,  not  by  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  but 
after  the  custom  of  the  Church. "J  And  the  fore- 
most scholars  of  the  Church  of  England  have 
frankly  admitted  the  same.  Thus,  writes  the 
learned  Bishop  Hooker:  "It  is  rather  the  force 

♦Conservative  Reformation — Krauth,  p.  153. 
fChurch  History,  Vol.  II,  p.  363- 
JEcclesia  Lutherana,  p.  108. 


65 

of  custom,  whereby  the  Church  doth  still  uphold, 
maintain  and  honor  the  bishops,  than  that  any- 
such  law  can  be  shown  that  the  Lord  himself  hath 
appointed  presbyters  to  be  under  the  regiment  of 
bishops."*  Church  Government,  then,  in  the 
Lutheran  system  being  free,  it  is  only  a  matter  of 
human  judgment  and  wise  discretion  what  form  it 
is  best  to  adopt.  Some  form,  however,  there 
must  be.  For  history  shows  that  the  progress, 
prosperity,  unity,  and  efficiency  of  the  Church, 
are  quite  as  much  affected  by  wise  or  foolish, 
orderly  or  anarchical,  loose  or  efficient  govern- 
ment, as  civil  states  and  societies  are.  In  the 
United  States  quite  too  little  attention,  hitherto, 
has  been  given  this  important  matter,  so  that  the 
administration  of  the  Lutheran  Church  is  here 
perhaps  the  least  orderly  in  the  world.  In  fact, 
our  point  of  weakness  here  lies  in  the  sphere  of 
organization.  And  from  no  other  single  cause, 
has  our  efficiency  been  so  much  crippled,  and  our 
progress  been  so  greatly  impeded.  "We  need 
order,"-f  the  distressed  cry  of  the  patriarch 
Muhlenberg  as  he  saw  the  distracted  state  of  the 
American  Lutheran  congregations,  is  still  re- 
echoed on  every  hand.     Order,  oversight,  judi- 

*  Ecclesiastical  Polity,  Book,  VII,  Chap.  V. 
fLife  and  Times  of  Muhlenberg — Mann,  p.  212. 


66 

cious  administration,  a  general  superintendence 
of  pastors  and  congregations,  is  one  of  the  most 
intensely  practical  questions  of  the  times.  Our 
mighty  Lutheran  hosts  are  too  much  like  a  great, 
undisciplined,  disorganized  army,  so  that  their 
overwhelming  force  cannot  be  utilized  as  it  should 
be,  cannot  be  moved  by  a  common  impulse,  or 
brought  to  bear  to  a  common  end  and  purpose. 
In  a  recent  paper  on  this  point,  a  theological 
professor  of  large  experience  makes  these  judi- 
cious remarks:  "Our  convictions  on  this  subject 
have  been  deepened  more  from  the  practical, 
than  from  the  theoretical  side.  Life  in  the 
seminary  makes  many  revelations  concerning 
the  needs  of  our  congregations  and  the  modes  of 
supplying  them,  that  are  most  surprising.  We 
have  most  excellent  material  that  admits  of  a  high 
development,  if  we  only  treat  it  properly.  But 
we  are  constantly  losing  some  of  the  very  best 
of  it,  because  of  our  neglect  to  avail  ourselves  of 
the  most  simple  and  reasonable  business-like 
methods  with  respect  to  its  external  administra- 
tion. The  question  of  greatest  importance  in  our 
Church  in  this  country  at  present,  is  that  of  its 
thorough  organization  upon  the  foundations  laid 
for  it  by  Muhlenberg.  The  indifference  to  more 
thorough  organization  for  the  efficient  adminis- 


67 

tration  of  the  means  of  grace,  is  only  a  symptom 
of  general  religious  indifference.  If  the  Lord  has 
actually  given  us  a  work  to  do,  he  means  that  we 
should  do  it  with  the  most  thorough  adjustment  of 
all  our  resources  for  its  execution." 

What  the  form  of  government  of  the  American 
Lutheran  Church  shall  be,  is  yet  in  the  crucible  of 
discussion  and  experiment.  The  growing  tendency 
would  appear  to  be  toward  a  superintendency 
similar  to  that  in  Germany.  Others  think  that  a 
government  by  bishops,  after  the  order  of  the  one 
in  Scandinavia,  which  has  so  efficiently  preserved 
the  unity  and  greatness  of  our  Church  there, 
would  be  the  best.*  A  recent  able  editorial  in 
the  Ltitheran  Observer,  while  guarding  carefully 
against  any  such  Episcopate  as  would  compromise 
the  Lutheran  doctrine  of  the  universal  priesthood 
and  justification  by  faith  alone,  remarks :  "That 
some  kind  of  an  "episcopate,"  or  its  equivalent  in 
some  form  of  adequate  stipervisiori,  would  be  an 
advantage  to  the  Lutheran  Church  of  this  country, 

*It  is  certainly  a  noteworthy  fact,  deserving  the  thoughtful 
reflection  of  every  lover  of  his  Church,  that  alone  in  Scandinavia 
of  all  Christian  countries  do  we  find  the  blessed  phenomenon  of 
practically  but  one  Church — the  Evangelical  Lutheran.  Thus  in 
Sweden  there  are  but  600  Roman  Catholics,  30,000  Baptists  and 
Methodists,  and  nearly  5,000,000  Lutherans!  What  might  possibly 
have  not  a  similar  government  done  to  prevent  the  distractions  and 
divisions  of  Germany? 


68 

is  believed  by  many  who  think  that  the  general 
work  of  the  Church  could  be  carried  on  more 
systematically  and  efficiently  under  such  a  form 
of  administration,  than  under  the  present  methods. 
*  *  *  *  \Ye  think  if  the  President  of  every 
Lutheran  Synod  could  devote  his  entire  time  and 
labor  to  a  general  supervision  of  the  Churches 
within  its  bounds,  it  would  be  a  kind  of  an 
"episcopate"  that  would  suit  the  situation  and 
promote  the  progress  and  welfare  of  the  Church." 
Had  it  not  been,  indeed,  for  the  exigencies  of  the 
Reformation,  Luther  would  doubtless  have 
preserved  ecclesiastical  administration  by  bishops. 
He  wrote:  "The  Church  can  never  be  better 
governed,  and  preserved,  than  with  an  Episcopal 
government,  after  the  pattern  of  the  Apostolic 
and  Primitive  Church."-j-  But  as  Luther  found 
that  the  Bishops  personally  were  opposed  to  the 
Reformation,  and  that  their  power  was  the  bul- 
wark of  the  Papacy,  therefore,  as  the  truth  is 
greater  than  order,  he  wisely  sacrificed  the  latter 
to  preserve  the  former.  The  great  historian, 
Neander,  writes  of  the  early  Church  that  when 
the  "contentions  of  parties "  were  proving  "  injuri- 
ous to  discipline  and  good  order  in  the  Churches, 

tThe  Kpiscopate  for  the  Lutheran  Church  in  America — Kohler. 
P-  »5- 


69 

the  triumph  of  the  Episcopal  system  undoubtedly 
promoted  their  unity,  order,  and  tranquillity."* 

All  this  shows  the  vital  importance  of  some 
judicious,  adequate  form  of  Church  government. 
To  this  end,  it  seems  necessary  to  have  some 
official  Head  or  Executive,  charged  with  the 
oversight  of  synodical  congregations.  And  it 
would  seem  necessary  that  this  person  should  be 
detached  from  individual  congregational  care,  or 
at  least  have  an  assistant.  He  should  be  free  to 
inspect  and  overlook  the  whole  field,  so  that 
where  counsel  is  needed,  counsel  can  be  had; 
that  when  difficulties  arise  some  one  may  have 
time  and  ability  to  adjust  them  ;  that  inexperienced 
young  pastors  may  be  admonished  and  guided ; 
and  so  that  instead  of  helmless  drifting  and 
confusion,  there  may  be  prudent,  wise,  and  orderly 
administration. 

While  in  theory,  then,  and  in  practice,  the 
Lutheran  Church  must  maintain  pure  doctrine  as 
the  essential  characteristic  of  the  Church,  it  is 
also  a  matter  of  the  gravest  practical  moment, 
that  there  be  an  efficient  Church  Polity.  That 
Polity  is  to  be  as  variable  as  are  the  exigencies  of 
the  case.  And  that  one — whether  by  a  sytem  of 
Synodical  Superintendents  or  of  Bishops — should 

*Church  History,  Vol.  I,  p.  193. 


70 

be  chosen,  which  is  best  adapted  to  the  particular 
situation.  It  is  admitted  on  all  sides,  that  as  our 
Church  in  America  is  growing  so  large  and  em- 
bracing such  vast  interests,  the  question  of  a 
government  which  will  contribute  to  its  wiser 
administration,  order,  unity,  and  efficiency,  be- 
comes every  day  the  more  pressing  a  problem  of 
the  hour.  And  this  question  should  be  met 
intelligently,  patiently,  and  unselfishly,  that  under 
the  guidance  of  Providence,  our  Church  in  this 
land  may  be  so  organized  and  ordered,  as  the 
most  fully  to  develop  its  spiritual  agency,  as  an 
efficient  part  of  the  universal  Christian  Church. 

But  in  its  discussion  every  true  Lutheran  will 
bear  in  mind  the  noble  words  of  Bishop  Von 
Scheele  of  the  Swedish  Lutheran  Church,  which 
sound  the  key-note  to  the  Scriptural  and  Luth- 
eran theory  of  Church  government  viz.:  "It  does 
not  matter  so  much  whether  we  have  Bishops  or 
not,  but  that  we  have  Christ  with  us  and  confess 
Him,  as  the  great  Head  and  Bishop  of  the 
Church." 


CHAPTER  X. 


LUTHERAN    WORSHIP. 


nnHE  foundation  of  the  ritual  of  the  Lutheran 
1  Church  was  laid  in  Luther's  work:  "The 
Order  of  Service  in  the  Church"  (1523).  It  was 
his  intention  to  retain  all  that  was  good  in  the 
service  of  the  Catholic  Church,  while  discarding  all 
unevangelical  doctrines  and  practices.  The 
various  states  of  Germany  have  their  own  Church 
orders,  which  differ,  however,  only  in  minor  par- 
ticulars. Luther  introduced  the  use  of  the  ver- 
nacular tongue  into  the  public  services,  restored 
preaching  to  its  proper  place,  and  insisted  upon  the 
participation  of  the  congregation  in  the  services, 
declaring  "  common  prayer  exceedingly  useful  and 
helpful."  The  popular  use  of  hymns  was  introduced 
by  Luther,  who  was  himself  an  enthusiastic  singer, 
and  by   his   own   hymns   became   the   father   of 


72 

German  Church  hymnology,  which  is  richer  than 
any  other.  Congregational  singing  continues  to 
form  one  of  the  principal  features  in  the  public 
services."* 

The  foregoing  is  a  very  fair  summary  by  an 
impartial  witness,  the  Presbyterian  Dr.  Schaff, 
of  the  chief  outlines  of  Lutheran  Worship.  It 
specifies  these  cardinal  features: 

1  That  Preaching  forms  the  central  element  of 
the  service. 

2  That  "Common  Prayer  [Luther's  own 
words],  as  exceedingly  useful  and  helpful,"  is  to 
have  a  leading  place.  That  is,  the  minister  is  not 
to  have  the  whole  service  to  himself,  but  the  peo- 
ple are  to  have  their  share  in  the  worship. 

3  That  congregational  singing  is  to  be  a 
*'  principal  feature." 

4  That  the  services  of  the  Ancient  Church — 
the  usasfes  of  Christians  of  all  lands  and  times — 
were  to  be  "retained,"  only  "excepting  unevan- 
gelical"  features. 

5  That  there  is  a  definite  historical  Lutheran 
service,  which,  while  uniform  in  any  particular 
country,  "differs"  in  various  states,  "however 
only    in    minor   particulars."     The  remark  often 

♦Schaff-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  Vol.  II,  p.  1372. 


7Z 

made  that  Lutherans  in  Europe  have  numerous 
varying  orders  of  service  is  here  seen  to  be 
essentially  misleading.  For,  not  only  are  these 
orders  all  framed  after  the  same  generic  pattern, 
but  only  one  uniform  service  is  used  in  each 
different  country  or  territory.  Hence,  Dr. 
Schaff's  statement,  as  an  unbiassed  judge,  is 
quite  correct. 

As  Luther  reformed  but  did  not  destroy  the 
old  faith,  so,  also,  he  reformed  and  cast  anew,  but 
did  not  destroy  the  old  service.  Upon  this 
venerable  edifice  of  Christian  worship,  as  the  out- 
growth, under  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  Christian 
experience,  and  as  the  visible  expression  of  the 
communion  of  saints,  Luther  would  have  been 
the  last  to  lay  irreverent  or  destructive  hands.  Of 
its  origin  and  antiquity,  Dr.  Wenner  well  and 
beautifully  says  :  "  It  is  fair  to  assume  that  during 
the  first  century  the  principal  outlines  of  the 
Christian  Service  were  established  and  generally 
observed,"  indicating  "an,  original  impress  of 
Apostolical  usage  and  authority.  Its  foundations 
were  laid  in  the  far  off  past.  Its  object  is  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  men.  Its  walls 
have  breasted  the  storms  and  tumults  of  passing 
ages.  Its  architectural  lines  have  continually 
pointed  upward  to  the  unseen  world.    The  history 


74 

of  Christian  Worship  leads  us  on  hallowed  paths; 
to  understand  and  behold  its  secrets  we  need 
anointed  eyes.  Many  questions  that  agitate  the 
Church  at  this  time  are  of  passing  and  relative 
importance.  This  affects  its  very  life.  It  springs 
from  the  very  heart  of  Christianity,  and  is  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  life  of  every  believer."* 
As  thus  the  Primitive  and  Mediaeval  Church 
had  been  liturgical,  and  as  Public  and  Common 
Worship,  are  impossible  without  common  forms 
for  the  congregation,  so  also  is  the  Lutheran 
Church  liturgical.  And  that  the  Lutheran  liturgy 
which  Luther  moulded  retained  the  leading 
characteristics  of  the  worship  of  all  the  saints  back 
to  Apostolic  times,  is  no  reproach  to  it,  but  one 
of  its  chief  glories.  Who  does  not  feel  his  faith 
strengthened  and  his  religious  devotion  stirred  by 
the  consciousness  that  the  prayer  or  song  he  is 
uplifting  has  voiced  the  devotions  of  the  saints 
up  to  the  throne  for  a  thousand  years !  What  a 
sublime  illustration  is  this  of  Christian  Unity! 
What  a  sweet  and  comforting  realization  of  the 
communion  of  the  saints!  What  a  foretaste  in 
the  worship  of  the  earthly  temple  of  that  in  the 
heavenly  temple,  when    in     answer  to    a    voice 

♦Christian    Worship. — Lutheran    Quarterly,    October,  1892,  pp. 
452,  455- 


75 

that  came  out  of  the  throne  there  was  returned 
the  common  response,  "as  it  were  the  voice  of  a 
great  multitude,  and  as  the  voice  of  many  waters, 
and  as  the  voice  of  mighty  thunderings,  saying, 
Alleluia;  for  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth" 
(Rev.  xix;  6).  There  is  no  worship  in  the  world 
to-day  at  once  so  ancient  and  so  modern,  so 
liturgical  and  yet  so  spontaneous,  so  reverent, 
and  yet  so  stirring  the  deepest  springs  of  living 
enthusiasm,  as  that  ot  the  Lutheran  Church. 
Writes  President  White  of  Cornell  University  of 
Lutheran  Worship  in  Germany :  "These  hymns 
laden  with  the  highest  hopes  and  inspirations  of 
past  centuries,  take  hold  upon  the  German  heart 
to-day.  In  the  Churches  the  service  of  praise 
comes  from  the  hearts  and  voices  of  the  whole 
conofreofation.""^  And  writes  another  non-Luth- 
eran  of  Lutheran  Worship  in  Berlin :  "  What 
pure,  single  worship  is  here!  With  all  the  liturgy 
and  ceremony  there  is  still  a  wonderful  simplicity. 
There  is  a  solemnity  and  beauty  in  its  worship,  an 
earnestness  and  reverence  within  its  sacred 
temples,  a  richness,  depth,  satisfaction  in  its 
services — a  reverence,  in  all,  that  fills  the  soul  with 
a  completeness  of  devotion.  How  one  grows  to 
love  the  Protestant  Church  of  Germany." 

*Hand  Book  of  Lutheranism,  p.  15. 


76 

The  liturgical  service  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
is  eminently  Scriptural,  largely  using  the  identical 
Scripture  words ;  it  places  the  preaching  of  the 
Word  in  the  centre  about  which  all  revolves ;  it 
is  so  simple  that  a  child  or  stranger  can  easily 
use  it ;  and  it  is  very  brief,  requiring  only  about 
one-fourth  the  time  to  the  sermon  occupied  by 
the  service  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Yet  it  is 
liturgically  symmetrical  and  full.  As  a  service  for 
devotion,  it  is  ordered  in  perfect  adaptation  to  the 
nature  of  Christian  Worship.  It  prepares  the 
worshipper  for  the  divine  audience  by  the  Co7i- 
fession;  it  begins  the  service  proper  in  the  Introit; 
it  mounts  to  rapture  at  the  beatific  vision  in  the 
Gloria  in  Excelsis ;  it  bows  in  prayer  in  the 
Collect;  it  hears  the  voice  of  God  in  the  Epistle 
and  Gospel;  it  returns  the  answer  of  the  congre- 
gation in  the  Creed ;  it  gives  wing  to  Christian 
Song  in  the  Hymns ;  it  renders  the  sacrifice  of 
praise  in  the  General  Prayer,  and  of  gifts  in  the 
Offertory;  and  then  it  departs  with  the  trinal 
Benediction.  The  service  is  responsive ;  is  framed 
about  the  Christian  year;  is  constantly  varied, 
the  Introits  and  Collects  changing  for  every 
Sunday ;  gives  preaching  the  central  place ; 
allows  room  for  the  exercise  of  liberty,  as  in  the 
use  or  disuse  of  parts  and  in  the  choice  of  written  or 


n 

extemporaneous  prayer;  and  is  so  simple  and 
direct  that  any  stranger  can  at  once  use  it.  "All 
its  various  parts  centre  around  Christ,  presenting 
Him  in  all  His  offices,  in  both  His  states,  in  the 
fullness  of  His  work,  and  in  all  His  relations  to 
the  sinful  and  sorrowing,  the  penitent  and  be- 
lieving, the  afflicted  and  tempted,  the  dying  and 
theglorified.  Its  lessons,  and  responses,  and  collects, 
and  chants  are  intended  simply  to  carry  the  devo- 
tions of  the  worshippers  to  the  Throne  of  Grace,  as 
far  as  possible,  in  the  very  words  of  Holy  Scripture^^ 
Wherever  introduced  it  is  affectionately  cherished 
by  the  congregations,  who  could  scarcely  be  per- 
suaded to  become  accustomed  to  the  coldness,  and 

♦That  able  and  moderate  journal,  the  New  York  Observer  (Pres- 
byterian), thus  spoke  of  this  feature:  "To  many  devout  persons 
this  Lutheran  Service-Book  will  be  chiefly  interesting  and  acceptable 
because  of  its  Scriptural  character,  a  large  part  of  its  phraseology 
being  in  the  language  of  sacred  writ,  the  Psalms  and  Lessons  being 
given  in  the  incomparable  English  of  the  Version  which  has  been 
more  widely  read  than  any  other  words  that  ever  were  written.  *  *  * 
Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  thing  about  this  service  is  that  it  is 
not  commanded,  but  commended  to  the  use  of  the  Churches  for 
which  it  was  provided.  So  careful  are  the  Lutherans  of  the  liberty 
of  the  people  in  matters  of  worship,  that  they  maintain  the  princi- 
ples embodied  in  the  Augsburg  Confession,  namely,  that  unity  of 
doctrine  and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments  are  sufficient  for 
the  true  unity  of  the  Church,  that  differences  in  rites  and  ceremonies 
are  not  injurious  to  this  unity,  that  ordinances  of  men  ought  not 
to  be  forced  on  the  congregations.  At  the  same  time  it  is  believed 
that  harmony  and  edification  are  secured  by  pure  and  hoiy  worship 
that  is  common  and  universal." 


7^ 

formality,  and  incoherency,  affording  little  food  for 
the  heart,  that  so  often  characterizes  a  service 
without  a  fixed  order,"* 

Ritualism — an  extreme  ceremonial,  a  meaning- 
less repetition  of  rites,  an  introduction  of  such 
Romish  usages  as  were  rejected  at  the  Reforma- 
tion— is  unknown  in  the  Lutheran  Church.  Even 
in  those  countries  where  an  Episcopal  Constitution 
and  the  greatest  correspondence  with  Mediaeval 
usages  prevails,  as  in  Scandinavia,  Lutheran 
Worship  has  always  retained  a  pure  and  high 
spirituality.  Thus  writes  a  careful  observer  and 
traveler  of  large  experience :  "  Here  we  find 
universally  prevalent  a  very  "  High  Church  Luth- 
eranism"  which  many  of  us  have  been  educated 
to  regard  as  " Ritualism " — mere  dead  "Formal- 
ism." Be  that  as  it  may,  I  must  confess  that  this 
very  ''High  Church  Luther anism^'  with  its  high 
Ritual,  throughout  has  produced  the  highest 
expression  of  applied  Christianity  among  the 
Norwegians,  the  world  has  yet  seen.  There  the 
system  has  had  a  most  thorough  trial  for  350 
years,  and  the  results,  if  they  prove  anything, 
prove  that  it  most  likely  promotes  the  highest 
gospel  graces  in  heart  and  life,  for  here  we  find 

*Dlstinctive  Doctrines  and  Usages  of  the  General  Bodies  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  p.  Ii6. 


79 

the  highest  type  of  Christian  nation  in  the  world."* 
Such  is  the  conclusive  answer  Lutherans  can 
make  if  ever  the  groundless  charge  of  "  High 
Church"  and  "  RituaHsm,"  is  made.  "By  their 
fruits  shall  ye  know  them"  (Matt,  vii;  i6). 

Luther  saw  the  value  of  a  Common  Liturgical 
Order  of  Worship.  Accordingly,  when  he  pub- 
lished his  German  Order  of  Service  in  1526  he 
thus  advised:  "It  would  be  beautiful  and  admirable, 
if  in  every  territory,  ^/le  order  of  service  ivould  be 
the  same,  and  the  surrounding  towns  and  villages 
would  follow  the  same."  The  Patriarch  Muhlen- 
berg saw  the  same  need  and  wrote  in  1783  in  the 
closing  days  of  his  life :  "It  would  be  a  most 
desirable  and  advantageous  thing  if  all  the 
Evangelical  Lutheran  congregations  in  the  North 
American  States  were  united  with  one  another, 
and  if  they  all  used  the  same  order  of  service  a7id 
the  same  hymn-booky  And  sagacious  observers 
see  and  feel  that  this  is  one  of  the  greatest  needs  of 
American  Lutheranism  now.  Thus  Prof.  M. 
Valentine,  D.D.  says:  "A  general  uniformity  is 
felt  to  be  desirable,  but  not  held  to  be  necessary."f 
Rev.   J.    G.    Butler,  D.D.  writes:  "Greater  uni- 

*M.  W.  Hamma,  D.D. 

■{•Distinctive   Doctrines   and  Usages  of  the  General   Bodies  of 
the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church,  p.  48. 


8o 

formity  in  our  Church  services  would  conduce 
greatly  to  the  outer  and  inner  unity  of  the  Church, 
in  which  there  is  now  too  much  that  is  loose,  and 
in  many  cases,  even  disorderly.  This  tniiformity 
secured  in  our  Churches,  the  Lutheran  Church, 
which  is  one  Church,  would  preserve  and 
strengthen  the  bonds  which,  under  God,  I  trust 
will  ever  make  us  an  undivided  and  united  family 
of  the  great  household  of  faith."  And  that  veteran 
of  American  Lutheranism,  Rev.  F.  W.  Conrad, 
D.D.,  Editor  of  the  Lutheran  Observer,  gave  this 
wise  counsel:  "This  state  of  nonconformity  was 
the  legitimate  outgrowth  of  the  principle  of  free- 
dom in  worship  maintained  by  Luther,  which, 
notwithstanding  his  solemn  warning  against  its 
perversion,  and  his  emphatic  testimony  to  the  de- 
sireableness  of  a  uniform  church  service  in  all  the 
congregations  of  a  country,  was  carried  to  an 
unwarranted  extreme.  The  same  abuse  of  liberty 
in  worship,  and  disregard  of  the  importance  of  uni- 
formity in  church  services  in  Germany,  have  pro- 
duced the  same  variety  and  indifference  to  uniform- 
ity in  worship  in  the  Lutheran  Churches  of 
America."  And  writes  the  Doctor:  "A  general 
desire  is  felt  that  a  uniform  Order  of  Worship 
may  yet  be  adopted  in  all  the  Lutheran  Churches 
of  America."* 

♦Luther  Memorial  Tract,  p.  6. — F.  W.  Conrad,  D.D. 


8i 

To  remedy  these  evils  the  General  Synod  South 
at  Staunton,  Va.  1876,*  adopted  this  resolution: 
''Resolved,  that  with  a  view  to  promote  uniformity 
in  worship  and  strengthen  the  bonds  of  unity 
throughout  all  our  churches,  the  Committee  on 
the  Revision  of  the  Book  of  Worship  be  instructed 
to  confer  with  the  Lutheran  General  Synod  of 
the  United  States,  and  with  the  Lutheran  General 
Council  in  America,  in  regard  to  the  feasibility  of 
adopting  but  one  book  containing  the  same  hymns 
and  the  same  order  of  service  and  liturgic  forms 
to  be  used  in  all  the  English-speaking  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Churches  in  the  United  States."  To 
this  proposition  the  General  Synod  responded 
with  enthusiasm  at  its  session  in  Springfield, 
Ohio,  in  1883,  where  feeling  that  the  movement 
was  Providential,  unanimously  and  with  a  rising 
vote,  it  resolved  "that  we  hail  as  one  of  the  most 
auspicious  outlooks  of  our  Church  in  America 
the  prospect  of  securing  a  Common  Service  for  all 
English-speaking  Lutherans!'  .  And  the  General 
Council  having  joined  these  two  General  Bodies 
in  the  movement  on  "the  generic  and  well-defined 
basis  of  the  common  consent  of  the  pure  Lutheran 
Liturgies  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,"  there  resulted 
what  is  now  known  as  "The  Common  Service." 

*On  motion  of  the  author,  then  a  pastor  at  Savannah,  Ga. 


82 

Of  the  intrinsic  merit  of  this  Service  Dr.  Conrad 
says:  "In  the  number,  variety,  and  devotional 
style  of  its  parts,  and  in  beauty  and  force  of 
expression,  the  order  of  worship  may  justly  be 
regarded  as  the  highest  product  of  the  intelligence, 
piety,  culture  and  taste,  guided  by  the  devotional 
spirit,  of  the  Church  of  Christ;  and  is  worthy  of 
the  respect,  not  only  of  every  Lutheran,  but  of 
every  Protestant,  and  deserves  a  sincere  and  fair 
trial  by  the  pastors  and  congregations  of  the  three 
bodies  for  whom  it  was  prepared."* 

Of  it,  further,  a  Lutheran  can  say  with  pride 
that  it  is  the  order  virtually  in  use  by  fifty 
millions  of  Christians  in  all  quarters  of  the  globe, 
and  therefore  of  incalculably  greater  historic  and 
devotional  interest  than  any  other  book  of  wor- 
ship in  the  world.  In  harmony  with  Lutheran 
principles  its  use  is  not  made  "obligatory  upon 
congregations,"  or  imposed  as  a  law  to  bind  the 
conscience.  It  is  simply  "commended"  by  the 
General  Bodies,  "as  serving  to  edification,"  and 
as  tending  to  foster  devotion,  cement  unity,  and 
promote  denominational  efficiency.f 

*  Lutheran  Observer,  Oct.  19  and  26,  1888. 

f  As  an  illustration  of  the  benefits  of  its  use,  the  Rev.  E.  T. 
^orn,  D.D.,  President  of  the  United  Synod  in  the  South,  said  of  its 
introduction  there:  "It  gives  order  to  our  worship,  secures  uni- 
formity among  us,  provides  a  system  of  devotion  in  harmony  with 


83 

During  the  earlier  history  of  America,  the 
Puritanic  ideas  of  worship  generally  prevalent, 
were  anything  but  favorable  to  the  popularity  of 
the  Lutheran  service.  But  the  progress  of  the 
country  in  culture,  and  in  just  conceptions  of 
worship,  and  the  marked  tendency  in  all  denomi- 
nations to  liturgical  services,  are  drawing  special 
attention  to  the  Lutheran  Worship.  And  its 
scripturalness,  devotional  spirit,  symmetry,  mode- 
ration, and  reproduction  of  the  pure  primitive 
Church  Services,  are  securing  it  most  favorable 
recognition.  This  tendency  finds  notable  ex- 
pression in  the  great  History  of  the  Christian 
Church,  issued  by  the  learned  Dr.  Schaff,  where 
he  thus  contrasts  the  Lutheran  with  other  modes 
of  worship:  "The  Zwinglian  and  Calvinistic 
worship  depends  for  its  effect  too  much  upon  the 

our  faith,  maintains  among  us  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  Clod's 
Word  and  an  administration  of  the  Sacraments  according  to  the 
Gospel,  and  stores  in  the  minds  of  our  children  the  form  of  sound 
words  ;  and  while  we  rejoice  in  our  accord  with  the  fathers  of  our 
own  Church  and  with  the  Church  of  all  ages,  in  the  use  of  these 
venerable  forms,  the  Southern  Church  has  hoped  to  fulfill  her  own 
special  vocation  in  uniting  in  this  the  Churches  of  the  General 
Synod  and  those  of  the  General  Council  with  her  own.  This  hope 
seems  destined  to  fulfillment  ;  and  already  the  English  Churches  of 
the  Synod  of  Missouri  and  of  the  Joint  Synod  of  Ohio  are  adopting 
this  Common  Service  of  the  Lutheran  Church." — Distinctive  Doc- 
trines and  Usages  of  the  General  Bodies  of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church,  p.  190. 


intellectual  and  spiritual  power  of  the  minister 
who  can  make  it  either  very  solemn  and  im- 
pressive, or  very  cold  and  barren."*  "  Luther  [on 
the  other  hand,]  who  was  a  poet  and  a  musician, 
left  larger  scope  for  the  aesthetic  and  artistic 
element;  and  his  Church  has  developed  a  rich 
liturgical  literature. "f  "The  Lutheran  Church  is 
conservative  and  liturgical.  She  retained  from 
the  traditional  usage  what  was  not  inconsistent 
with  evangelical  doctrine,  while  the  Reformed 
Churches  of  the  Zwinglian  type  aimed  at  the 
greatest  simplicity. "J 

It  is  thus  evident  that  the  more  Reformed 
scholars  and  worshipers  compare  the  barren 
meagreness  of  their  services  with  the  Lutheran, 
the  more  will  the  contrast  of  the  spiritual  beauty 
and  fullness  of  the  latter  impress  them.  It  is 
pleasing  to  know  that  Lutheran  Worship,  after 
having  stood  the  test  of  three  and  a  half  centu- 
ries, is  thus  in  full  keeping  with  the  trend  of 
modern  liturgical  ideas.  Thus  is  the  good  ever 
at  once  both  old  and  new. 

It  is  a  remark  not  infrequently  made  that  the 
Lutheran  Service  is  very  like  the  Episcopalian. 

*Vol.  VII,  p.  6i. 

tlbid. 

JVcl.  IV ;  486. 


^5 

Such  a  remark  results  from  a  want  of  correct 
historical  information.  That  there  is  a  general 
similarity  in  the  worship  of  these  two  liturgical 
Churches  is  very  true.  But  the  similitude  is  the 
other  way.  That  is,  it  is  the  Episcopal  Service 
which  is  like  the  Lutheran.  The  original  Luth- 
eran Service  dates  from  1523,  whereas  the  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  only  dates  from  1549.  And 
just  as  the  English  Bible  is  traceable  to  German 
soil  and  Lutheran  influences,  and  as  the  XXXIX 
Articles  of  the  Church  of  England  were  derived 
from  the  fountain  head  of  the  Lutheran  Augsburg 
Confession,  so  the  ritual  and  worship  of  the 
Episcopal  Church  are  mainly  tributary  to,  and 
modelled  after  the  Lutheran  liturgies.  The  prin- 
cipal one  of  these  was  the  Cologne  Liturgy,  which 
the  Archbishop  of  Cologne,  who  had  become  a 
convert  to  Lutheranism,  had  Bucer  and  Melanch- 
thon  draw  up  for  him  in  1543.  Dr.  Jacobs  in 
his  "Lutheran  Movement  in  England"  shows 
with  exhaustive  scholarship  how  in  the  Church  of 
England  the  order  of  Morning  and  Evening 
Service,  the  Litany^  the  Communion  Service,  the 
orders  for  Baptism,  Confirmation,  Marriage, 
Burial,  etc.  follow  more  or  less  closely  the 
Lutheran  Orders,  often  taking  leading  forms  from 
Luther's  identical  words.    The  correspondence  of 


86 

the  worship  of  these  two  great  historic  Churches 
is  matter  of  congratulation  to  both.  But,  when  it 
comes  to  the  point  as  to  which  one  the  credit  of 
originating  these  services  is  due,  historic  justice 
should  always  be  done.  The  Church  of  England 
is  the  daughter  of  the  Church  of  Luther.  And 
the  daughter  has  wisely  decked  herself  very 
largely  in  the  beautiful  robes  of  her  spiritual 
mother. 


CHAPTER  XL 

RITES    AND    FESTIVALS    IN    THE    LUTHERAN   CHURCH. 

THE  Lutheran  made  no  pretext  to  be  a  new 
Church,  as  if  Christ's  Church  had  been 
totally  destroyed,  and  no  Christian  Church  was 
existing  on  the  earth.  But  she  claimed  to  be  the 
old  true  historic  Church  purified,  reformed,  and 
renewed.  No  historic  chain  was  therefore  to  be 
broken,  no  rite  abolished,  no  usage  abandoned, 
which  was  rightfully  observed  in  the  ancient  Church. 
Thus  says  the  Augsburg  Confession  :  Art.  XV  ; 
"Concerning  ecclesiastical  rites  our  Churches 
teach  that  those  rites  are  to  be  observed,  which 
may  be  observed  without  sin,  and  are  profitable 
for  tranquillity  and  good  order  in  the  Church" — 
Art.  XXVI :  "Among  us,  in  large  part,  the  ancient 
rites  are  diligently  observed.  For  it  is  a  calum- 
nious falsehood,  that  all  the   ceremonies,  all  the 


88 

things  instituted  of  old  are  abolished  in  our 
Churches."  Apology  of  Melanchthon,  Chap. 
IV;  "It  is  pleasing  to  us  that,  for  the  sake  of 
unity  and  good  order  universal  rites  be 
OBSERVED."  That  is,  usages  and  forms  of  worship 
observed  of  old  and  everywhere  by  christians, 
were  hallowed  by  such  use,  and  to  be  maintained 
as  a  bond  of  unity.  The  Church  historian, 
Guericke,  therefore  says:  "The  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church  retains  every  undoubtedly 
ancient  festival.  In  so  doing,  however,  the  Luth- 
eran Church  reduces  them  all  to  their  proper 
significance.  The  ultra-reformers,  on  the  other 
hand,  by  their  abrogation  of  all  such  commemora- 
tions have  cut  away  from  beneath  their  feet  the 
true  foundations  of  history  and  antiquity."* 

The  idea  of  Luther  and  the  Lutheran  Church 
in  retaining  usages  and  rites  practiced  by  the 
universal  Christian  Church  from  the  time  of  Christ 
and  the  Apostles  was  to  perpetuate  a  bond  of 
visible  unity  between  all  believers.  If  divisions 
and  discords  sadden  and  disturb  us,  how  agree- 
ments and  concords  that  have  outlived  all  differ- 
ences bridge  this  chasm  of  estrangement,  and 
attest  that  the  disciples  of  Jesus  of  whatever  land, 

♦Christian  Antiquities,  p.  197. 


89 

and  time,  and  name,  are  still  one  in  the  bonds  of 
a  blessed  unity!  Another  precious  feature  of  the 
perpetuation  of  universal  usages  is  the  assurance 
and  reverence  that  come  from  such  ancient  and 
common  observance.  While  the  customs  of 
society  and  civil  government  are  ever  subject  to 
change  and  vacillation,  as  being  but  human,  how 
fitting  that  that  kingdom,  which  is  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  should  be  "the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  forever."  In  this  invariability  of  customs 
the  believer  and  even  the  world  find  a  powerful 
confirmation  of  the  immutability  of  the  truth  and 
faith  of  which  they  are  the  visible  expression. 
With  the  Lutheran,  that  the  Romish  Church  uses 
a  universal  rite  is  no  more  objection  to  it,  than 
the  use  of  the  Apostles'  Creed  by  that  Church,  is 
an  objection  to  that  venerable  symbol.  And  the 
non- Lutheran  Churches,  in  disusing  universal 
rites,  have  in  deference  alone  to  groundless 
prejudice,  cast  away  some  of  the  choicest  treas- 
ures, and  the  most  potent  and  beneficent 
influences  of  the  Christian  Church. 

In  illustration  of  these  principles,  the  Lutheran 
Church  observed  the  Christian  Year.  While 
many  Saints'  and  Martyrs'  days  and  excesses 
were  stripped  from  it,  the  Chief  Festivals,  those 
"wreaths  about  the  pillars  of  the  Christian  Year" 


90 

were  retained.  This  was  in  keeping  with  Luther's 
advice,  viz.  "  Especially  should  all  keep  Christmas, 
Circumcision,  Epiphany,  the  Easter  Festival, 
Ascension,  and  Pentecost — unchristian  legends 
and  songs  having  been  done  away."*  While  thus 
the  Lutheran  Church  rejected  the  Romish  pseudo- 
festivals,  and  abolished  the  great  mass  of  Saints' 
days,  she  by  no  means,  however,  set  aside  the 
memorial  days  of  the  Apostles,  St.  Stephen, 
the  Martyr.  But  she  retained  these  as  being  "an 
example  of  the  believers,"  in  Christian  heroism, 
and  godly  virtues  and  graces.  Accordingly, 
Luther  said  that  there  could  be  no  better  spiritual 
discipline  for  Christian  youth  than  to  place  in 
their  hands  brief  lives  of  the  apostles,  martyrs^ 
and  saints,  discarding  any  legendary  and  super- 
stitious features.  Dr.  Seiss  fitly  says  of  the 
Lectionary  for  these  Minor  Festivals  which  our 
Church  has  appointed,  that  "it  is  particularly 
valuable  for  a  complete  rounding  out  of  the  system 
that  prevails  in  the  arrangement  of  the  Pericopes 
for  the  Christian  Church  Year.  *  *  *  These 
selections  conduct  us  into  quite  a  different  field 
from  that  of  the  other  festivals.  They  bring  into 
greater  prominence  the  element  of  biography  and 
personal  character  and  experience.     They  show 

*The  Christian  Year,  Horn,  p.  53. 


91 

us  more  of  applied  Christianity."*  And  of  the 
rare  spiritual  value  of  their  treatment  in  the  pulpit 
these  noble  volumes  are  a  worthy  illustration. 

The  Christian  Year  revolves  about  Jesus 
Christ  as  its  centre^  and  its  purpose  is  to  show 
forth  the  successive  stages  of  His  life,  and  to 
interpret  these  for  the  edification  of  the  believer's 
spiritual  life.  "The  Year  of  the  Ancient  Church 
had  for  its  foundations  the  great  facts  of  the  life 
of  our  Lord.  All  stress  is  laid  upon  the  Word; 
no  sanctity  belongs  to  the  day.  The  Lutheran 
Church,  therefore,  restored  the  Church  Year  to 
its  purity."f  And  Ahlfeld  beautifully  says:  "As 
the  earth  moves  around  the  visible  sun,  so  the 
Church  moves  around  the  sun  of  divine  grace — 
so  she.  travels  through  the  sacred  history  of  the 
Savior.  Her  spring  is  the  lovely  season  of 
Christmas  and  Epiphany,  when  Christ  is  born. 
Her  summer  is  the  season  of  Lent  and  the 
passion  time  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  her  harvest 
and  autumn  are  the  Whitsuntide  days,  when  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  poured  out  upon  the  disciples,  and 
when,  in  the  long,  lovely  Trinity  Sundays,  one 
kind  after  another  of*  the  gifts  of  the  Triune  God 
is  borne  into  the  granary  of  the  heart." 

*Lectures  on  the  Gospel  and  Epistles  for  the  Minor  Festivals, 
p.  4. 

fThe  Christian  Year,  Horn,  p,  53. 


92 

On  Advent  Sunday,  therefore,  the  Lutheran 
Church  begins  the  Christian  Year,  and  calls  upon 
all  her  members  to  make  a  holy  beginning  in 
piety  and  Christian  activity.  On  Christmas  Day, 
with  joy  and  thanksgiving,  all  gather  about  the 
holy  child  Jesus  in  the  sanctuary.  On  Palm 
Sunday,  the  catechumens  are  presented  to  the 
Lord.  On  Easter,  the  Churches  resound  with 
the  mighty  rapture  of  the  resurrection.  And  so 
to  the  end.  On  all  the  Sundays  the  Lessons — 
the  Epistle  and  Gospel  for  the  day — are  read ; 
those  selections  of  Scripture  which  have  the 
sanction  of  the  usage  of  more  than  a  thousand 
years.  To  the  chief  ancient  festivals  the  Lutheran 
Church  has  added  another,  that  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. This  is  observed  on  the  31st  of  October, 
the  anniversary  of  the  beginning  of  the  blessed 
work  of  the  Reformation  by  Luther  nailing  up 
the  famous  theses. 

This  observance  of  the  Christian  Year  by  the 
Lutheran  Church,  exempted  from  all  Romish  and 
ritualistic  obligatory  fasts  and  practices,  not  only 
is  entirely  without  objection,  but  is  eminently 
conducive  to  the  production  of  a  sound,  rotund, 
conservative,  spiritual  life.  With  regard  to 
objections  urged  against  its  observance,  the 
Lutheran    Review    makes    this    forcible     reply : 


93 

"What  a  wealth  of  holy  memories  and  sacred 
associations  cluster  around  the  festivals  of  the 
Church  Year  to  those  who  are  accustomed  to 
observe  them.  How  lost  we  would  feel  and  how 
we  should  miss  these  festivals  if  they  were  sud- 
denly stricken  from  the  calendar.  And  yet  the 
non-liturgical  churches  ignore  the  Church  Year 
altogether,  because  they  are  afraid  it  savors  of 
popery,  and  because  these  festivals  are  not 
commanded  to  be  observed  by  the  Word  of  God. 
We  can  only  pity  their  childish  fears,  while  we 
must  protest  against  their  inconsistencies.  They 
reject  the  Church  Year,  which  is  observed  by  the 
vast  majority  of  Christendom,  on  the  plea  that 
the  Bible  does  not  enjoin  it,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  institute  a  Week  of  Prayer  in  January 
of  each  year.  But  where  is  the  warrant  for  such 
a  Week  of  Prayer?  The  zeal  of  would-be  re- 
formers very  often  gets  the  better  of  their 
discretion,  as  is  abundantly  evident  in  the  Puri- 
tanic obliteration  of  all  the  Church  festivals."* 
The  following  notable  utterance  of  the  extremely 
Broad  Church  and  liberalistic  Phillips  Brooks, 
shows  how  utterly  groundless  and  unreasonable 
is  the  prejudice  entertained  by  some  even  among 
us,   as  if  an  observance  of  the  Pericope  of  the 

♦New  York  :  E.  F.  Eilert.  Editor. 


94 

Gospel  and  Epistles  was  infected  with  ritualism. 
He  says :  "  Look  at  the  way  the  pulpit  teaches. 
I  venture  to  say  that  there  is  nothing  so  unreason- 
able in  any  other  branch  of  teaching.  You  are  a 
minister,  and  you  are  to  instruct  these  people  in 
the  truths  of  God,  to  bring  God's  message  to 
them.  All  the  vast  range  of  God's  revelation 
and  of  man's  duty  is  open  to  you.  And  how  do 
you  proceed?  If  you  are  like  most  ministers 
there  is  no  order,  no  progress,  no  consecutive 
purpose,  in  your  teaching.  You  never  begin  at 
the  beginning  and  proceed  step  by  step  to  the 
end  of  any  course  of  orderly  instruction.  No 
other  instruction  ever  was  given  so.  No  hearer 
has  the  least  idea,  as  he  goes  to  your  Church, 
■what  you  will  preach  to  him  about  that  day.  It 
is  hopeless  to  him  to  try  to  get  ready  for  your 
teaching.  It  is  this  observance  of  the  Church 
Year  to  which  we  owe  so  much  as  a  help  to  the 
orderliness  of  our  preaching.  It  still  leaves 
largest  liberty.  It  is  no  bondage  within  which 
any  man  is  hampered.  But  the  great  procession 
of  the  year,  sacred  to  our  best  human  instincts, 
with  the  accumulated  reverence  of  ages,  leads 
those  who  walk  in  it,  at  least  once  every  year, 
past  all  the  great  Christian  facts,  and  however 
careless  and  selfish  be  the  preacher,  will  not  leave 


95 

it  in  his  power  to  keep  them  from  his  people. 
The  Church  Year,  too,  preserves  the  personaHty 
of  our  reHgion.  It  is  concrete  and  picturesque. 
The  historical  Jesus  is  forever  there.  It  lays 
each  life  continually  down  beside  the  perfect  life, 
that  it  may  see  at  once  its  imperfection  and  its 
hope."* 

The  beautiful  rite  of  Confirmation  is  retained 
in  the  Lutheran  Church.  In  the  primitive  Church 
this  was  originally  administered  by  the  officiating 
minister  as  the  closing  ceremonial  of  Baptism,  in 
imitation  of  the  apostolic  practice,  (Acts  xix ;  6). 
In  the  course  of  time  it  came  to  be  administered 
by  the  bishop  alone  as  in  the  Romish  and  Episco- 
pal Churches.  The  Lutheran  Church  has 
returned  to  the  primitive  usage  of  its  administra- 
tion by  each  pastor.  "  Its  idea  of  confirmation 
is  that  of  a  renewal  of  the  baptismal  covenant,  a 
conscious  and  responsible  assumption  by  the 
individual  himself,  of  the  vow,  which  at  his 
baptism,  had  been  made  for  him  by  his  sponsors. 
Its  principal  features  are  the  catechetical  exercises, 
the  confession,  and  the  vow,  and  its  purpose  a 
new-kindled  devotion. "f  Beyond  doubt  the 
majority   of   Protestant   Churches  have    made  a 

*Lectures  on  Preaching,  pp.  90-91. 
fSchafF-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  Vol.  I,  p.  530. 


96 

great  mistake  and  experience  a  yet  greater  loss 
in  their  rejection  of  this  ancient,  beautiful,  and 
useful  ceremony  of  Confirmation,  as  a  means  of 
introducing  especially  the  baptized  youth  into  the 
privileges  and  duties  of  public  Church-member- 
ship. 

The  rite  of  Confession,  as  a  fit  preparatory 
discipline  for  the  reception  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
is  universally  practiced  in  Lutheran  Churches. 
It  is  based  on  the  words  of  Jesus  to  His  disciples: 
"  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.  Whosoever  sins 
ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them ;  and  who- 
soever sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained,"  (John 
XX ;  22,  23);  and  upon  the  custom  of  the  Ancient 
Church.  Luther  protested  against  the  Romish 
perversion  of  the  words  of  Christ,  as  shown  in 
the  practice  of  Auricular  Confession.  He  taught 
that  the  "  Power  of  the  Keys,"  i.  e.,  the  absolution 
from  sins  was  not  absolute,  but  only  exhibitory, 
and  was  not  limited  to  a  priestly,  order,  but  a 
prerogative  of  the  universal  priesthood.  He 
objected  also  to  confession  as  obligatory,  and  to 
the  necessity  of  an  enumeration  of  all  sins.  With 
these  limitations,  however,  Luther  placed  a  very 
high  estimate  on  the  disciplinary  value  of  Con- 
fession. He  therefore  makes  use  of  this  definition 
in  the  small  catechism :    "Confession  consists  of 


97 

two  parts ;  the  one  Is,  that  we  confess  our  sins ;  the 
other,  that  we  receive  absolution  or  forgiveness 
through  the  pastor  as  of  God  himself,  in  no  wise 
doubting,  but  firmly  believing  that  our  sins  are  thus 
forgiven  before  God  in  heaven."  "The  views  of 
Luther  on  Confession  were  expressed  by  Me- 
lanchthon  in  the  Augsburg  Confession,  and 
adopted  by  the  Lutheran  Church,  which  at  the 
same  time  so  changed  the  character  of  Private 
Confession  as  to  divest  it  of  its  unscriptural 
features.  It  was  not  imposed  upon  the  consciences 
of  the  people  as  necessary  to  obtain  justification, 
but  rather  extended  to  them  as  a  privilege.  An 
opportunity  was  thereby  afforded  to  every  mem- 
ber who  had  any  trouble  on  his  mind  concerning 
his  sins  to  reveal  the  matter  to  his  pastor,  in  order 
to  receive  instruction  and  comfort.  And  the 
subject  was  thus  removed  from  the  sphere  of 
ministerial  authority  to  that  of  the  pastoral  care  of 
souls,  in  verification  of  which  Melanchthon  explains 
Private  Absolution  as  retained  in  the  Churches, 
as  nothinof  more  than  "the  true  voice  of  the 
Gospel"  addressed  to  penitent  souls  by  the 
Ministers  of  Christ."* 


♦Rev.  F.  W.  Conrad,  D.D.,  on  Luther's  Smaller  Catechism,  p. 
146. 


98 

The  exercise  of  the  rite  of  Confession  in  this 
pure  Scriptural  sense  was  distinctive  of  the 
Lutheran,  as  over  against  the  other  Protestant 
Churches  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  and  has 
continued  so  to  the  present  time.  "  It  was  left  to 
the  great  revival  of  apostolical  Christianity  in  the 
1 6th  century  to  clear  away  the  rubbish  that  had 
accumulated  around  this  institution.  Zwingli 
utterly  repudiated  the  traditional  Power  of  the 
Keys,  and  confined  it  to  the  social  sphere  of  the 
Church,  the  power  of  admitting  and  excluding 
members.  Calvin  held  the  same  view  except 
that  he  also  included  preaching.  The  Lutheran 
theologians,  on  the  other  hand,  while  retaining 
the  old  forms,  gave  to  them,  as  it  were,  a 
regeneration.  To  them,  absolution  was  nothing 
less  than  the  Word  of  God  which  must  be  be- 
lieved as  truly,  as  if  it  were  a  voice  from  heaven. 
Ordinarily  it  was  pronounced  by  the  minister,  not 
as  a  priestly  mediator,  but  as  a  minister  of  the 
Church,  deriving  his  authority  from  Christ  indi- 
rectly through  the  Church."'''  Luther,  with  his 
intense  religious  and  churchly  feelings  deemed 
confession  invaluable  to  his  spiritual  experience. 
He  says :  "  Not  for  the  treasures   of  the  whole 

*Rev.  G.  U.  Wenner,  D.D.,  on  The  Power  of  the  Keys. 


99 

world  would  I  give  up  the  privilege  of  private 
confession,  for  I  know  what  strength  and  comfort 
I  have  derived  from  it.  Nobody  knows  what  it 
can  do,  until  he  has  fought  and  contended  with 
the  devil.  I  would  long  since  have  been  over- 
come and  destroyed,  if  this  confession  had  not 
sustained  me."  In  the  general  practice  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  the  Confession  of  Sins  is  not 
private,  [which  is  reserved  for  exceptional  cases] 
but  public.  It  is  regarded  as  a  most  salutary 
preparation  for  the  reception  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  which  no  one  should  fail  to  observe,  unless 
prevented  by  necessity.  Next  to  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment  itself,  the  devout  Lutheran  prizes  the 
opportunity  to  make  public  confession  before  the 
Church,  and  to  receive  that  declaration  of  Abso- 
lution which  the  official  representative  of  the 
Church  is  authorized  to  declare  to  the  true 
penitent. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


THE  LUTHERAN  AN  ORTHODOX  CHURCH. 

CHRISTIANITY  in  our  time  has  come  upon  an 
extraordinary  phenomenon — the  glorification 
of  Heresy.  The  primary  characteristic  of  a  chris- 
tian is  Faith.  Christians,  therefore,  have  from  the 
first  worn  the  distinctive  title  :  believers.  Credo 
— I  believe — begins  the  Apostles  Creed. 
Christians  by  no  means  forego  reason,  but  they 
do  feel  with  Thomas  a  Kempis,  that  "  Human 
reason  is  feeble  and  may  be  deceived :  but  true 
faith  cannot  be  deceived."*  It  was  in  this  pro- 
found spiritual  sense  that  Augustine  wrote : 
"  Faith  makes  christians:  Reason  makes  heretics." 
If  there  was  any  deadly  sin  from  which  the  saints 
of  old  shrank  it  was   heresy — the   denial,  perver- 

*Book  IV  :  Chap.  XVIH. 


lOI 

sion,  or  commingling  with  error  of  the  true 
christian  faith,  deHvered  by  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  Holy  Apostles.  Consequently  St.  Paul 
warns  christians  :  "A  man  that  is  an  heretic,  after 
the  first  and  second  admonition  reject"  (Tit. 
iii;  9.);  meaning  that  this  is  an  evil  that  dare  not 
be  temporized  with,  even  as  a  viper  dare  not  be 
taken  to  the  bosom,  or  a  traitor  admitted  within 
the  camp.  And  St.  Peter  cautions  us  to  be  on 
vigilant  watch  against  those  "who  privily  bring 
in  damnable  heresies"  (2  Pet.  ii;  i),  lest  thereby 
the  christian  citadel  be  undermined. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  feeling  of  the  primitive 
christians  on  this  point,  Eusebius,  the  early  Church 
historian,  records  the  tradition  received  from 
Polycarp,  the  martyr,  that  on  one  occasion  the 
apostle  John  entered  one  of  the  ancient  baths, 
but  findine  that  the  heresiarch  Cerinthus  was  in 
one  of  the  adjoining  rooms,  he  hastily  fled  from 
the  place,  saying:  "Let  us  flee,  lest  the  bath  fall 
in,  as  long  as  Cerinthus,  the  enemy  of  the  truth, 
is  within."*  The  source  of  this  strong  aversion 
was  that  "the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus"  is  the  most 
priceless  treasure  of  Christianity ;  and,  that  even 
a   more   deadly  enemy  of  it   than    the   avowed 

♦Ecclesiastical  History,  chap.  XXVIII. 


I02 

infidel  is  he  who,  while  falsely  professing  to  be  a 
christian,  uses  this  profession  as  a  vantage  ground 
to  "privily  bring  in  damnable  heresies." 

But  what  a  contrast  to  this  holy  sensitiveness 
do  we  see  at  the  present  juncture.  Heresies  are 
multiplying  on  every  hand.  Heresies,  too,  not 
as  mild  and  comparatively  as  non-essential  as 
that  of  Cerinthus.  But  heresies  of  the  destructive 
and  deadly  kind.  It  is  claimed  that  a  majority 
of  the  books  of  the  Bible,  instead  of  being  written 
by  their  professed  and  inspired  authors,  are 
literary  forgeries  of  quite  other  ages.  The  Bible 
is  held  no  longer  to  be  an  infallible  book,  but  full 
of  discrepancies  and  errors  which  were  also  in 
the  original  text.  Christ  himself  is  declared  to 
have  been  fettered  by  many  limitations,  which 
led  him  into  incorrect  statements  respecting  the 
authorship  of  these  books.  Kuenen,  Wellhausen, 
Driver,  and  others,  know  a  great  deal  more 
about  them  than  He  did,  though  He  lived  1900 
years  nearer  their  origin  and  had  the  not  incon- 
siderable advantage  of  being  Divine.  In  fact  the 
whole  origin  of  the  Bible  is  treated  as  natural, 
like  that  of  any  other  book.  "We  are  at  length 
beginning  to  realize  the  gravity  of  the  present 
state  of  the  Old  Testament  controversy.  The 
Traditional  views  are  being  examined  under  the 


i03 

llcrht  of  modern  discoveries,  and  efforts  are 
beginning  to  be  made  fairly  to  put  in  contrast 
that  inspired  and  trustworthy  record  of  the  past, 
bearing  the  name  of  the  Old  Testament,  and 
sealed  with  a  belief  of  more  than  two  thousand 
years  in  its  genuineness  and  integrity,  with  that 
strange  conglomerate  of  myth,  legend,  fabrica- 
tion, idealised  narrative,  falsified  history,  dram- 
atized fable,  and  after-event  prophecy,  to  which 
modern  critical  analysis  has  sought  to  reduce 
that  which  the  Church,  day  by  day,  calls  the  most 
Holy  Word  of  Almighty  God."* 

The  same  heretical  treatment  is  applied  to  the 
Christian  doctrines.  The  divinity  of  Jesus  is 
sought  to  be  abolished  from  the  creed.  The  vi- 
carious atonement  of  our  Lord,  is  reduced  to  a 
mere  salutary  example  of  suffering.  Salvation 
by  faith  is  denied.  It  does  not  matter  what  one 
believes.  Jew,  Infidel,  Pagan,  and  Christian 
alike,  will  be  asked  how  they  have  lived,  not 
what  they  have  believed.  Hence  the  venerable 
Christian  creeds  are  denounced  as  yokes  of  tyranny. 
The  sacraments  are  held  to  be  of  inconsiderable 
moment.  The  resurrection  is  ridiculed  as  a 
scientific  impossibility  and  absurdity.     And  so  on 

♦Christus  Comprobator — Bishop  Ellicott,  p.  93. 


I04 

through  the  hst.  Now,  it  is  perfectly  evident 
that  these  heresies  invaHdate  the  whole  christian 
structure.  They  leave  no  authentic  Bible;  no 
veritable  Christ;  no  fatal  sin;  no  true  atone- 
ment ;  no  real  Church  ;  no  historical  Christianity ; 
no  visible  Kingdom  of  God.  Their  triumph 
means  the  disappearance  of  Christianity  in  its 
visible,  historic  form  from  the  earth.  It  is 
nothing  new  for  Christianity  to  be  assailed  by 
heresies.  Ever  has  the  banner  of  truth  had  to 
battle  its  way  against  bitter  foes.  But  what  is 
new  and  unparallelled  is  that  these  heresies  are 
sought  to  be  legitimized.  Their  advocates  are 
not  to  be  censured  or  excommunicated,  but  to  be 
extolled.  The  journal  of  a  leading  religious  de- 
nomination thus  writes :  "  Orthodoxy  is  stagna- 
tion and  spiritual  death."  "The  heretics  of 
to-day  are  the  christian  leaders  of  to-morrow." 
Those  who  have  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ,  as 
Martineau,  "are  the  High  Priests  and  Prophets 
of  mankind,"  writes  a  Professor  in  regular  standing 
in  Union  Theological  Seminary,  New  York. 
How  closely  akin  are  these  utterances  to  that  of 
the  infidel  Ingersoll,  who  cries:  "Orthodoxy  is 
retrogression  and  tyranny — Heresy  is  the  eternal 
dawn."  In  fact,  in  many  religious  quarters,  there 
is  no  surer  road  to  popularity  than  to  pose  as  an 


I05 

heretic.  One  has  but  bitterly  to  assail  some 
great  Christian  doctrine,  and  he  is  heralded  as  a 
scholar,  a  champion  of  progress  and  freedom,  a 
remonstrant  against  effete  dogmas,  and  his  fame 
travels  beyond  the  seas.  To  such  an  extent  has 
this  gone  that  the  late  Spurgeon  felt  himself 
compelled  to  retire  from  fellowship  with  the 
Baptist  union  in  England,  and  after  the  recent 
failure  of  the  attempt  to  convict  the  most  daring 
leader  of  the  destructive  critical  school  in 
America  a  noted  infidel  said :  "  Old  John  Knox 
and  Calvin  must  have  turned  in  their  graves, 
when  it  was  decided  by  the  Presbyterian  Church 
that  this  man  was  right.*  Why,  do  you  know 
that  in  a  little  while  the  Protestant  Churches  will 
be  waiting  to  take  me  in!"  And  while  this  ex- 
aggeration was  in  keeping  with  the  orator's 
ribald  style,  yet  his  and  his  hearers  elation  were 
sisrnificant  of  the  radical  trend  of  much  of  modern 
Protestantism. 

But  amid  this  wild  onset  and  uproar  of  heresy, 
the  Lutheran  Church  stands  firm.  She  abides 
immovably  grounded  on  the  truth.  Under  her 
feet  is  the  Rock  of  Ages,  and  the  waves  of  hell 

*To  the  credit  of  this   great  Church,  this  action  was    reversed 
by  the  General  Assembly  at  Washington. 


io6 

shall  not  prevail  against  her.  She  is  not  com- 
pelled to  any  creed  revision.  She  does  not 
canonize  heretics.  She  is  not  embarrassed  by 
heresy  trials.  She  does  not  abridge  a  hair's 
breadth  her  acceptance  of  the  Bible.  She  does 
not  stumble  at  holy  mysteries,  but  holds,  as  even 
the  great  critic  Lessing  admits  :  "For  what  sort 
of  a  Revelation  would  that  be  which  reveals 
nothing?"  She  compromises  not  a  single  doc- 
trine. She  stands  where  Christ  stood ;  where 
the  apostles  stood ;  where  the  primitive  christian 
stood ;  where  the  true  confessors  all  through  the 
Mediaeval  darkness  stood ;  where  Luther  and  the 
Reformers  stood,  when  they  emerged  into  the 
light ;  and  where  the  saints  of  all  ages  have  stood ; 
and  where  by  God's  grace  she  will  stand  to  the  end 
of  time.  She  unreservedly  accepts  and  holds  to 
the  three  Ecumenical  (universal)  Creeds — the 
Apostles,  the  Nicene,  and  the  Athanasian.  And 
she  holds  to  the  unaltered  Augsburg  Confession. 
These  she  does  not  hold  as  the  Bible,  but  as 
correct  witnesses  to  the  faith  of  the  Bible.  Thus 
she  voices  her  belief  with  that  of  the  current 
Christendom  of  all  the  centuries.  She  lifts  up  her 
testimony  in  sweet  and  unbroken  accord  with  the 
universal  "communion  of  saints."  She  is  not  an 
heretical,  but  an  orthodox  Church.    She  does  not 


107 

glory  in  error,  but  in  truth.  She  does  not  lift 
her  sword  to  assail  Christianity,  but  to  defend 
it.  These  ''strong"  and  eloquent  words,  correctly 
define  the  Lutheran  position :  "  Cling  to  the  old 
faith.  There  is  much  falling  away  on  this  point. 
People  are  too  fondly  persuading  themselves  that 
the  Creeds  which  cheered  and  sustained  so  many 
generations  must  now  be  expurgated  or  damned. 
The  world  is  thronged  with  zealots,  busy  building 
straw  bridges  between  the  orthodoxy  of  ages  and 
the  unbeliefs  and  shallow  self-assertions  of  this 
supercilious  and  self-lauding  generation.  The 
greatest  need  of  our  times  is  the  re-Christening 
of  Christendom.  A  flabby  goodishness,  which 
makes  nothing  of  doctrine,  Church  and  Sacra- 
ments, is  not  Christianity,  and  only  deceives  those 
who  trust  to  it.  What  men  need  is  positive  truth 
-—a  teaching  that  has  back-bone  in  it,  and  stands 
out  solid  and  erect  above  the  muddy  sentimental- 
ities of  the  day — a  teaching  which  anxious  and 
perishing  souls  can  lay  hold  on  and  feel  that  they 
have  something  substantial  on  which  to  rest. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  clear  and  positive  truth. 
God's  word  presents  it.  Christ  embodied  it. 
Prophets  and  Apostles  preached  it.  It  has  been 
echoed  down  through  the  centuries.  Our  sainted 
Confessors  revoiced  it  in  our  immortal  Augustana. 


io8 

And    on    it   hangs  the    destiny    of  mankind,  for 
time  and  for  eternity."* 

While  thus  refusing  to  place  natural  reason 
above  Faith,  the  Lutheran  Church  takes  care  not 
to  divorce  Faith  from  Good  Works.  She  "  discoun- 
tenances all  dead  orthodoxy,  and  next  to  purity  of 
doctrine  lays  all  stress  upon  showing  the  faith  in 
a  Christian  life.  She  has  from  the  beginning 
tried  to  enforce  strict  Church  discipline  in  her  con- 
gregations, and  requires  of  those  who  seek  to  be 
admitted  to  membership  evidence  of  a  Christian 
life.  In  all  relations  of  Christian  and  Church 
life  she  urges  the  necessity  of  showing  the  true 
faith  in  good  works. "f  As  the  truth  of  God  is 
the  seed  of  spiritual  life,  so  she  holds  that  the 
purer  the  orthodoxy,  the  better  and  richer  the 
harvest  of  practical  godliness. 

This  is  the  unique  attitude  of  the  Lutheran 
Church,  that  she  stands  to-day  the  one  solidly 
unswerving  witness  of  God  on  earth  to  the  un- 
impaired "faith  which  was  once  delivered  unto 
the  saints"  (Jude  iii).  Rationalism,  the  guise 
under   which    this    heretical    inundation    is    now 

*Dr.  Seiss  in  address  to  Graduating  Class  of  Philadelphia  Theo- 
logical Seminary. 

f  Distinctive  Doctrines  and  Usages  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  p. 
67. 


I09 

threatening  Christendom,  has  ever  been  alien  to 
the  spirit  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  Bahrdt,  the 
father  of  the  modern  school  of  rationalists,  dis- 
cerningly remarked:  "That  in  the  doctrine  of 
the  Lord's  Supper  I  was  more  Reformed  than 
Lutheran,  will  be  supposed  as  a  matter  of  course.""^' 
And  though  Germany,  because  of  its  brilliant 
mental  culture,  is  the  nursery  of  Rationalism,  yet 
it  is  not  found  in  the  Lutheran  Church.  Its  home 
is  in  the  universities,  and  in  the  schools  of 
Reformed  theology.  And  what  is  often  over- 
looked is,  that  similarly  the  most  powerful  and 
numerous  defences  of  evangelical  Christianity 
come  from  Germany — from  its  great  Evangelical 
Lutheran  scholars. 

Prof.  Christlieb  some  time  since  wrote  the 
Homiletic  Monthly :  "This  sketch  shows  that  the 
overwhelming  majority  of  the  German  ministers 
of  to-day  are  positively  Evangelical ;  and  at  the 
same  time  that  the  overwhelming  majority  of 
them  are  more  or  less  positively  Lutheran."  The 
widow  of  the  late  evangelical  scholar,  Dr.  Howard 
Crosby,  upon  visiting  Germany,  gave  this  as 
her  testimony  from  a  non-Lutheran  standpoint: 
"We  have  been  most  agreeably  surprised  by  the 

♦German  Protestantism,  Kahnis,  p.  136. 


I  lO 

spiritual  preaching  we  have  heard  everywhere  in 
Germany ;  not  a  word  of  poor,  finite  RationaHsm, 
as  we  had  feared,  but  simple  faith  in  original 
form,  with  a  rich  armory  of  Bible  texts,  making 
one  feel  that  the  only  real  strength  comes  from 
Scripture  knowledge  brought  to  remembrance  by 
the  Holy  Spirit."*  So  writes  also  an  observ- 
ing Lutheran  layman,  "J-  A.  B.,"  in  a  number 
oi  ''The  Lutheran  World:''  *'I  am  in  Prussia 
and  in  the  capital  of  the  German  Empire, 
and,  after  spending  six  months  in  the  Land  of 
Luther's  Church,  I  say  that  the  members  of  the 
Church  which  bears  his  name  in  America,  can 
look  across  the  ocean  for  an  example  of  Church 
love  and  fidelity.  Lutherans  of  the  United  States 
do  not  be  deceived  by  what  you  hear  of  the 
tendency  to  ''rationalism"  among  the  Germans. 
The  clergymen,  as  a  class,  are  holy,  earnest  men 
of  God,  preaching  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  working  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  As  for 
the  people,  the  plain  people,  with  the  exception 
of  a  small  number  of  the  various  "free  thinkers," 
they  know  of  no  disputes  as  to  the  Confession 
nor  of  any  dogma  of  the  Church.  Every  person, 
of  the  age  of  fourteen  and  over,  is  the  owner  of 

*New  York  Observer^  September  18,  1892. 


I II 


a  hymn-book  which  contains  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession. It  and  the  Bible  settle  the  whole  matter." 
The  same  is  notably  true  of  Lutheran  pulpits 
in  the  United  States.  However  uncertain  one 
may  feel  as  to  whether  orthodoxy  will  confirm 
his  faith,  or  dangerous  heresies  offend  his  ear,  on 
entering  other  Protestant  Churches,  we  do  not 
believe  there  is  a  Lutheran  pulpit  in  all  this  land 
from  which  one  will  not  hear  the  simple^  pure,  old 
gospel.  Accordingly,  President  Patton  of  Prince- 
ton, recently  remarked  to  the  author  that  one  of 
the  most  auspicious  signs  for  Christendom  was 
the  unswerving  fidelity  of  Lutheran  pastors 
throughout  the  entire  world  to  unimpaired 
Christian  truth. 

The  Lutheran  is  an  orthodox  Church.  This 
is  her  distinctive,  her  unique,  her  unrivalled  glory. 
She  is  "the  Church  ot  the  pure  doctrine."*  With 
her,  orders,  polity,  methods,  forms,  are  as  nothing, 
the  faith  is  all  in  all.  Like  the  Church  in  Phila- 
delphia spoken  of  in  the  Apocalypse,  amid  all 
the  alluring  degeneracies  of  these  modern  times, 
she  "has  kept  My  word,  and  has  not  denied  My 
name."  And  therefore  does  "He  who  walketh 
in  the  midst  of  the  seven  golden  candlesticks," 

♦Church  History,  Kurtz,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  39. 


112 

say  to  her;  "I  also  will  keep  thee  from  the  hour 
of  temptation,  which  shall  come  upon  all  the 
world,  to  try  them  that  dwell  upon  the  earth. 
Hold  that  fast  which  thou  hast,  that  no  man  take 
thy  crown"  (Rev.  iii ;  8,  9.). 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


LUTHERANS  AND  THE  CHURCH. 

LUTHERANS  believe  not  only  in  Christianity 
but  in  the  Church.  They  hold  that  the 
spiritual  life  exists  in  and  through  a  visible  form, 
"Christ's  body,  which  is  the  Chu'-ch"  (Col.  i ;  24). 
Piety  has  an  historical  as  well  as  a  spiritual  side. 
A  Lutheran,  therefore,  does  not  regard  as 
either  Scriptural  or  safe  that  Christianity  which  is 
indifferent  to  and  independent  of  churchliness. 

The  Lutheran  conception  of  the  Church,  first, 
is  that  it  is  divine.  It  is  "the  household  of  God 
— built  upon  the  foundation  of  the  apostles  and 
prophets,  Jesus  Christ  himself  being  the  chief 
corner-stone"  (Ephes.  ii;  20).  It  is  the  congre- 
gation of  the  saints — all  those  who  are  joined  by 
faith  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Its  purpose  is  the 
preaching  of  the  Word   and   the   celebration  of 


114 

the  Sacraments,  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and 
the  edification  of  the  faithful,  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  "Head  of  the  Church,"  and  its  members  are 
one  in  Him,  and  by  this  means  are  one  with  one 
another.  ''This  communion  we  then  call  holy, 
because  in  it  the  Holy  Ghost  is  operating,  to 
sanctify  it;  catJwlic,  because  however  widely  the 
members  of  the  Church  are  scattered,  yet  at  all 
times  and  in  all  places  the  same  faith  is  confessed; 
apostolic,  because  its  faith  resting  upon  that  pro- 
claimed by  the  apostles,  has  never,  in  the  course 
of  time  been  changed."* 

The  Church,  as  thus  divine,  is  entirely  unique, 
and  is  not  to  be  compared  with  any  merely  human 
society  or  institution.  But  it  is  separated  from 
these  by  an  impassable  chasm  of  superiority. 
Its  obligations,  its  claims,  its  powers,  proceed 
from  God,  and  are  endued  with  the  might  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  The  Church  is  the  "Body  of 
Christ,"  the  organ  by  which  He  continuously 
lives  and  mightily  works  on  the  earth.  This 
clothes  it  with  supernatural  spiritual  forces,  such 
as  pertain  to  no  merely  natural  or  moral  associa- 
tion whatever. 

•Lutheran  Doctrinal  Theology — Schmid,  p.  599. 


115 

The  Church  is  visible   and   invisible.     By  the 
visible   Church   we    mean   the   Church    in    that 
broader    sense  in  which  it  comprises    all    those 
who,  by  observance  of  tHe  outward   conditions, 
are  regular  members  of  the  Church.     But  by  the 
invisible  Church  we   mean   the   Church    in   that 
narrower  sense  in  which  it  comprises  alone  the 
truly  regenerate,  those  whose  inner  union  with 
Christ  complies  with  their  outward  profession  of 
Him.     But  the  Lutheran  Church  repudiates  such 
a  perversion  of  the  idea  of  the  invisible  Church, 
as    would   make    it   embrace   those   who    reject 
Christ's  visible   terms   of  communion.     "Nor  is 
the  Church  of  the  elect  said  to  be  invisible  because 
the  pious  and  elect  have  no  intercourse  whatever 
with  the  visible  ministry  of  the  Word  and  Sacra- 
ments, and  with  the  outward  practice  of  divine 
worship."*     The  invisible  Church  is  not   larger 
and  more  extensive,  than  the  visible,  but  just  the 
reverse.     Nor  is  it  apart  from  the  visible,  but  in 
and  a  part  of  it.     "The  relation  between  them  is 
this,  that  the  jChurch  in  the  narrower  sense  exists 
in  the  midst  of  the  Church  in  the  wider  sense."t 
"The  Church  invisible  becomes  visible  through 

♦Gerhard  XI ;  83. 

fLutheran  Doctrinal  Theology— Schmid,  p.  600. 


ii6 

the  Word  and  Sacraments."*  One  may  be  in  the 
visible  Church,  and  yet  not  be  in  the  invisible. 
But  the  divine  order  is  that  one  cannot  be  in  the 
invisible  Church  without  being  in  the  visible. 
Here  the  rule  is,  subject  to  such  exceptions  as 
God  in  His  wisdom  and  mercy  may  allow,  that 
laid  down  by  St.  Augustine :  "  He  who  has  not 
the  Church  for  his  Mother  cannot  have  God  for 
his  Father." 

Lutherans  further  hold  the  Church  to  be  one, 
"There  is  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism" 
(Ephes.  iv;  5).  "And  there  shall  be  one  fold, 
and  one  Shepherd"  (John  x;  16).  Diverse 
Churches  with  differing  faiths  and  antagonistic 
confessions — the  one  a  protest  against  the  other, 
the  one  unchurching  the  other — are  not  the  idea 
of  the  gospel.  Such  separated  and  rival  organi- 
zations do  not  hold  the  relation  to  each  other  of 
branches  of  the  Vine,  limbs  of  the  Body,  or 
natural  members  of  the  Christian  Family.  Hence 
the  Lutheran  Church  aspires  after  a  true  Christian 
unity,  an  oneness  in  "the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus." 
And  assured  that  she  holds  that  faith,  and 
administers  the  sacraments  in  their  purity,  while 
not  denying  that   others  are  more  or   less  true 

*HoIman  Lecture  on  the  Church,  P.  Bergstresser,  D.D. 


117 

Churches,  or  contain  regenerated  souls,  yet  she 
aims  to  bring  back  to  the  pure  confession  of  the 
truth,  all  such  as  have  more  or  less  erred  there- 
from, and  thus  to  realize  on  earth  the  "One  holy 
Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church,"  confessed  in  the 
Nicene  Creed. 

The  Church,  further,  is  the  divine  instrumentality 
for  salvation.  To  it  are  committed  the  Word  and 
Sacraments,  the  Means  of  Grace.  As  these  are 
the  divinely  ordained  agencies  for  causing  justi- 
fying faith,  men  must  come  to  these  ordinances 
for  salvation:  "For  the  obtaining  of  faith,  the 
ministry  of  teaching  the  Gospel,  and  administering 
the  Sacraments  was  instituted.  For  by  the  Word 
and  Sacraments,  as  by  instruments,  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  given."  Augsburg  Confession,  Art.  V. 
For  the  administration  of  these  Means  of  Grace, 
there  must  be  a  ministry.  Hence  results  the 
Ministerial  Office,  and  no  one  has  the  right  to 
officiate  in  these  holy  things,  unless  he  receives 
a  regular  call  from  the  Church.  The  witness  and 
seal  of  this  call  is  the  rite  of  ordination. 

As  to  the  Church  have  been  committed  these 
divine  powers,  agencies,  and  instrumentalities  of 
grace  and  salvation,  to  her  belongs  the  regenera- 
tion of  society.  Her  spiritual  forces  alone  are 
competent  to  the  overthrow  of  moral  evil.     She 


ii8 

alone  can  successfully  cope  with  impiety,  immo- 
rality, and  vice.  Where  all  human  societies  are 
impotent,  and  where  all  reforms  undertaken  on  a 
merely  moral  basis  will  fail,  she  can  perform 
moral  wonders  in  the  name  of  Christ  "working 
with  her,  and  confirming  the  Word  by  signs 
following"  (Mark  xvi;  20).  All  great  movements 
then  of  a  reformatory  character,  every  attempt  at 
the  moral  regeneration  of  society,  and  all  uplifting 
power  for  the  rescue  and  redemption  of  mankind, 
must  issue  from  the  Church,  and  be  conducted 
under  her  guidance.  Here  she  is  at  war  with 
many  of  the  skeptical  theories  promulgated  by 
social  reformers  of  our  time. 

To  the  Church  exercised  through  the  mini- 
sterial office,  pertains  the  Power  of  the  Keys.  This 
the  Augsburg  Confession,  Article  XXVIII,  thus 
defines:  "The  Power  of  the  Keys,  or  the  power 
of  the  bishops,  by  the  rule  of  the  Gospel,  is  a 
power,  or  commandment  from  God,  of  preaching 
the  Gospel,  of  remitting  or  retaining  sins,  and  of 
administering  the  Sacraments.  For  Christ  doth 
send  His  Apostles  with  the  charge:  "As  the 
Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you.  Re- 
ceive ye  the  Holy  Ghost ;  whosesoever  sins  ye 
remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them  ;  and  whoseso- 
ever sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained"  (John  xx; 


119 

21-23).  Again,  [the  Power  of  the  Keys  is]  the 
jurisdiction  to  judge  in  regard  to  doctrine,  and  to 
exclude  from  the  communion  of  the  Church.  And 
herein  of  necessity  the  Churches  ought  by  Divine 
right  to  render  obedience  unto  them  [the  bishops 
or  ministers]."  That  is,  to  the  Church  belongs 
the  preservation  of  the  pure  gospel.  To  her,  for 
safe  keeping  and  transmission,  are  "committed 
the  oracles  of  God"  (Rom.  iii ;  2).  She  is  "the 
pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth"  (i  Tim.  iii;  15). 
In  this  capacity  she  has  framed  the  canon  of 
Holy  Scripture.  She  has  faithfully  kept  and 
transmitted  the  record  of  divine  revelation.  And 
she  is  the  witness-bearing  Church,  in  that  by  her 
creeds  and  confessions  she  bears  unanimous  and 
continuous  testimony  to  the  true  teaching  of  this 
Scripture.  The  Church  thus  has  a  history  and 
is  known  by  historical  marks.  And  the  difference 
between  her  history  and  secular  histories,  is  that 
her  history  directly  bears  the  formative  hand  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  therefore  most  markedly 
reflects  the  divine  guidance.  "  Howbeit  when 
He,  the  Spirit  of  Truth  is  come,  He  will  guide 
you  into  all  truth"  (John  xvi ;  13).  As  we  study 
the  course  of  the  Christian  Church  through  the 
centuries,  we  observe  the  leadings  and  trace  the 
footprints  of  the  Son  of  God. 


I20 

The  Church,  thus,  is  an  orderly  kingdom  with 
a  constituted  government,  so  that  in  it  "all  things 
may  be  done  decently  and  in  order"  ( i  Cor.  xiv ; 
40).  The  Church  is  not  destitute  of  authority. 
It  has  the  power  of  self-preservation.  There  is 
a  legitimate  ecclesiastical  government.  Within 
due  limits  there  must  within  the  Church,  and 
with  regard  to  its  spiritual  officers  be  rule  and 
obedience,  as  saith  the  Scripture,  "Obey  them 
that  have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  your- 
selves ;  for  they  watch  for  your  souls,  as  they  that 
must  give  account"  (Heb.  xiii;  17).  To  this 
Power  of  the  Keys  pertains  the  exercise  of  disci- 
pline, the  excommunication  of  heretics,  that  the 
faith  may  be  kept  intact,  and  the  correction  or  ex- 
communication of  the  immoral,  that  the  fellow- 
ship may  be  kept  pure.  And  to  this  authority, 
legitimately  exercised,  every  one  must  bow,  even 
as  it  is  written :  "Tell  it  unto  the  Church ;  but  if 
he  neglect  to  hear  the  Church,  let  him  be  unto 
thee  as  a  heathen  man  and  a  publican"  (Matt, 
xviii;  17). 

The  congregation,  however,  is  the  ultimate 
source  of  power.  As  Lutherans  hold  the  universal 
priesthood  of  all  believers,  the  ministerial  office, 
and  hence  "the  Power  of  the  Keys,"  is  rooted  in 
the  congregation.    For  the  sake  of  order  it  simply 


121 


delegates  its  rights  to  some  fellow  member  that 
he  may  officiate  for  all.     The  Scriptural  or  New 
Testament  Church  was  organized  by  the  setting 
apart  of  Presbyters    or    Bishops— synonyms  for 
the    one    office  of  Minister— and   Deacons ;  and 
this  system  is  that  of  the  Lutheran  Church.    For 
the  sake  of  order,  these  Ministers,  with  lay  rep- 
resentatives   from   the   congregations,  constitute 
themselves  into  synods.     As  these  synods  repre- 
sent  the    embodied    wisdom    and    piety    of    the 
Church,  it  is  the  moral  duty  of  the  congregations 
to    render    obedience    to  them.     The   individual 
congregation  is    under   the   government   of  the 
Church   Council,  consisting  of  the  Pastor,  the 
Deacons,    and   also   the    Elders.     At   the   head 
of    the    congregation    stands    the    Minister,    to 
preach  the  Gospel,  administer  the  Sacraments, 
conduct  the  rites  of  Confession  and  Confirmation, 
execute  discipline,  and  in  general  to  exercise  the 
Power  of  the  Keys.     "The  pastor,  by  virtue  of 
his  office,  is  at  the  head,  not  only  of  the  Sunday 
School,    but   of  the    Church   Council  and  every 
organization    connected    with   the  Church.     The 
superintendent  of  the  Sunday  School,  and  presi- 
dents and  officers  of  the  various  organizations, 
are   m   no   respect  equal,  much  less  superior,  m 
authority   to   the   pastor.      Because    of   pastoral 


122 

duties,  or  various  other  considerations,  he  may 
absent  himself  from  any  meeting,  or  even  when 
he  is  present,  he  may  leave  the  meeting  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  chosen  officers ;  but  the  fact 
remains  that  the  pastor  is  not  only  the  spiritual 
leader,  but  the  ordained  head  of  all  the  affairs  of 
the  congregation.  We  think  this  position  is  UU' 
questionably  the  correct  Scriptural  and  therefore 
Lutheran,  view  of  the  relation  between  the  pastor 
and  all  associations  in  the  congregation."* 

In  Europe  much  injury  has  resulted  from  the 
union  of  Church  and  State  in  Lutheran  countries. 
This  arises  from  a  perversion  of  the  Lutheran 
theory.  The  Church  and  State,  as  both  ordained 
of  God,  and  necessary  to  secular  and  spiritual 
order,  have  a  vital  connection.  With  the  Family, 
they  constitute  those  three  estates  or  pillars  upon 
which  is  supported  the  whole  fabric  of  society. 
The  Church,  therefore,  should  instil  loyalty  to 
the  State.  And  the  State  should  render  spiritual 
deference  and  allegiance  to  the  Church.  But 
when  the  Church  wields  force  to  execute  her 
authority,  she  transcends  her  spiritual  realm  and 
incroaches  upon  the  prerogatives  of  the  State. 
And  when  the  State  appoints  ministers,  maintains 

*  Lutheran  Observer,  Editorial,  March  17th,  1893. 


123 

professors  in  theological  chairs,  and  decides 
questions  of  doctrine,  she  incroaches  upon  the 
Church's  legitimate  spiritual  supremacy,  assumes 
the  Power  of  the  Keys,  foments  confusion,  pro- 
motes heresy,  and  causes  general  disorder. 

Such  is  the  Lutheran  conception  of  the  Church. 
It  differs  radically  from  the  Romish  idea  in  this 
that  it  denies  that  the  Church  depends  upon  a 
certain  external  constitution  or  order,  but  upon 
the  pure  confession  of  the  truth.  It  denies  like- 
wise the  Papal  Primacy,  that  the  Pope  is  the 
successor  of  the  Apostle  Peter  and  the  infallible 
Head  of  the  Church.  It  denies,  too,  an  absolute, 
instead  of  a  declarative,  power  upon  the  part  of 
the  priests,  as  a  sacerdotal  order,  to  forgive  sins. 
And  it  denies  also  the  infallibility  of  a  General 
Council  of  the  Church,  for  even  this  has  been 
known  to  err.  There  always  remains,  as  of  the 
very  kernel  and  essence  of  Protestantism,  the 
exercise  of  Private  Judgment,  the  right  of  appeal 
to  the  Holy  Scripture,  as  the  only  supreme,  in- 
errant,  infallible,  and  final  tribunal. 

This  Lutheran  view  of  the  Church,  likewise, 
differs  from  that  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal,  in 
that  it  denies  the  existence  of  three  orders  in  the 
Church,  viz.  Deacons,  Priests,  and  Bishops — of 
which   three   orders   there   is  no  account  in  the 


124 

Scriptures,  while  there  is  positive  testimony  that 
there  was  no  such  distinction  in  the  apostolic  age, 
or  first  century  of  the  Church.  And  it  likewise 
repudiates  the  claim  of  the  apostolic  succession 
of  the  Episcopate,  and  the  attempt  to  invalidate 
the  legitimate  ministry  of  those  who  have  not 
been  Episcopally  ordained,  and  to  invalidate  the 
Church  membership  of  such  as  have  not  been 
Episcopally  confirmed.  This  is  making  the  Church 
to  depend  upon  orders  instead  of  faith,  which  is 
contrary  to  the  Scriptures. 

The  Lutheran  view  of  the  Church  none  the 
less  differs  from  the  Calvinistic  and  Zwinglian 
Churches,  who,  on  the  other  hand,  often  take  too 
low  and  latitudinarian  views  of  it.  These  de- 
preciate the  legitimate  authority  of  the  Church, 
virtually  nullifying  the  Power  of  the  Keys,  and 
by  dissociating  saving  grace  from  the  sacraments, 
and  by  a  false  conception  of  the  invisible  Church 
as  apart  from  the  visible,  deprive  the  Church  of 
its  chief  significance  as  God's  ordained  kingdom 
of  salvation. 

The  current  views  in  America,  respecting  the 
Church,  are  to  a  large  degree  infected  with 
Rationalism.  The  prevalent  tendency  often  is  to 
regard  the  Church  as  little  better  than  "a  purely 
human  organization,  very  much  on  a  level  with 


125 

other  societies."*  That  Christ  can  be  found  with- 
out the  Church,  that  saving  grace  may  be  given 
through  other  channels  than  the  Word  and  Sacra- 
ments, that  "the  Faith  once  dehvered  to  the 
saints,"  is  liable  to  change  with  each  decade  like 
the  latest  assumption  of  science,  or  like  the  plat- 
form of  a  political  convention,  are  the  sentiments 
most  in  vogue  with  the  Low  or  Broad  Churchism 
of  the  time.  What  the  Christianity  of  our  day 
then  needs  is  the  element  of  Churchliness.  A 
due  regard  for  the  uniqueness  of  "the  Church  of 
God;"  a  fitting  reverence  for  its  sacraments  and 
historic  usages ;  a  becoming  regard  to  judicious 
ecclesiastical  authority  and  order;  and  a  lively 
appreciation  of  the  necessity  and  beauty  of 
Churchly  graces  and  virtues. 

And  herein  we  see  again  the  great  value  of  the 
Lutheran  view  and  teaching  in  regard  to  the 
Church.  Nothing  is  more  required  by  the  present 
situation,  to  correct  errors,  to  restrain  false  ten- 
dencies, and  to  promote  the  welfare  of  Christendom, 
than  insistence  upon  the  Lutheran  theory  of  the 
Church.  So  wise,  so  Scriptural,  so  Catholic,  so 
intensely  Protestant,  so  guarded,  and  so  important 
to  meet  present  exigences,  is  her  testimony  on 

*The  Church,  SchafF-Herzog  Encyclopedia,  Vol.  i,  p.  474. 


126 

this  point,  that  every  Lutheran  should  feel  it  his 
mission  not  alone  to  intelligently  understand  it, 
but  also  to  illustrate  it  in  act  and  in  life. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


LUTHERAN    PIETY. 


THE  doctrinal  character  of  a  Church  has  a 
direct  bearing  upon  the  religious  life.  Thus 
the  Lutheran  or  Calvinistic  systems  produce 
markedly  diverse  types  of  Christians.  The  deeper, 
fuller,  more  childlike  faith  of  the  Lutheran  results 
in  a  deeper,  richer  spiritual  life.  His  intenser 
hold  upon  the  very  heart  of  the  gospel,  causes  a 
still  inner  spirit  of  unusual  beauty,  depth,  and 
power.  Consequently,  sensationalism,  turbulent 
revivalism,  and  all  forms  of  religious  demonstra- 
tiveness,  are  altogether  foreign  to  him.  The 
meditative,  devotional,  quietistic  temper  is  the 
characteristic  Lutheran  one.  Still,  but  deep ;  quiet, 
but  mighty;  not  in  name  but  in  power.  The 
Lutheran  spirit  is  simple,  modest,  unobtrusive. 
Writes  Dr.  Schaff:  "The  Lutheran  piety  has  its 


128 

peculiar  charm,  the  charm  of  Mary,  who  sat  at 
Jesus'  feet  and  heard  His  word.  It  has  a  rich 
inward  Hfe.  The  Lutheran  Church  numbers  her 
mystics  who  bathed  in  the  ocean  of  infinite  love. 
She  has  sung  the  most  fervent  hymns  to  the 
Savior,  and  holds  sweet  childlike  intercourse  with 
the  heavenly  Father."  This  mystical  spirit  is 
reflected  in  her  doctrinal  literature  and  prayer 
books,  which  are  the  richest  in  the  world — as 
Arndt's  True  Christianity,  Gerhard's  "Medita- 
tiones  Sacrse,"  "  Gotthold's  Emblems,"  etc. 

Another  characteristic  of  Lutheran  Piety  is  its 
cheerful  and  hearty  joy  02isness.  It  is  not  austere 
or  Puritanical.  It  is  not  narrow  or  one-sided.  It 
has  nothing  in  it  of  the  severity  of  asceticism.  It 
is  not  the  enforced  perfunctory  service  of  the 
slave,  but  the  free,  willing  obedience  of  the  son. 
It  enters  with  a  frank  and  hearty  spirit  into  all 
the  joyousness  spread  about  in  the  kingdom  of 
nature.  Love  being  its  centre  and  keystone,  its 
genializing  influences  soften  and  irradiate  the 
whole  Lutheran  system.  Believing  that  the  good 
things  of  life  were  meant  by  the  Creator  to  be 
enjoyed,  it  does  not  hold  to  a  theory  of  abstinence, 
but  "temperate  in  all  things"  is  its  motto.  "It 
excels  in  honest}',  kindness,  affection,  cheerfulness, 


129 

and  that  '  Gemuthlichkeit,'  for  which  other  nations 
have  not  even  a  name.  "* 

This  happy  temper  is  imbibed  from  its  founder. 
With  all  Luther's  poignant  conviction  of  sin,  his 
life  of  theological  battle,  and  his  superhuman 
labors,  he  yet  was  intensely  human,  genial,  and 
sympathetic.  "  With  childlike  joy  he  recognized 
God's  gifts  in  nature,  in  garden  and  field^  plants 
and  cattle.  He  was  enraptured  with  the  beauties 
of  Spring,  the  bloom  of  the  flowers,  and  the  song 
of  the  birds. "f  He  loved  home,  children,  friends. 
In  the  evening,  after  his  hard  studies,  he  would 
gather  about  the  social  circle  with  his  friends,  and 
dissolve  his  soul  to  the  melodies  of  his  lute.  Thus 
he  touched  whole  spheres  of  human  nature  to 
which  Calvin  was  a  stranofer. 

And  this  freedom  and  sunshine  of  Luther's 
nature  characterize  the  piety  of  Lutheran,  as 
contrasted  with  Reformed  peoples.  "  The  religious 
life  in  the  Reformed  Churches  is  characterized 
generally  by  harsh  legalism,  rigorous  renunciation 

*Dr.  John  Hall  of  New  York,  wrote  from  Germany  to  the 
Mail  and  Express :  "  There  is  one  feature  of  German  life,  as  it  comes 
under  the  notice  of  a  tourist,  which  deserves  commendation — 
namely,  the  general  sobriety  of  the  people.  An  intoxicated  person 
is  not  often  seen." 

f  Ivoestlin's  Life  of  Luther,  p.  597. 


I^O 


of  the  world,  coupled  with  unbending  decision 
and  energy  of  will.  It  is  the  spirit  of  Calvin 
which  impresses  on  it  this  character,  and  deter- 
mines its  doctrine."*  The  contrasted  free  joy- 
ousness,  larger  Christian  liberty,  innocent 
amusements,  non- Puritanical  conception  of  the 
Sabbath,  etc.  in  Lutheran  lands,  are  often 
misinterpreted  and  grossly  misrepresented  by 
those  reared  under  Calvinistic  influences. 

A  third  feature  of  Lutheran  Piety  is  its  practi- 
cal character.  This  is  shown  in  the  religiousness 
and  Churchliness  of  popular  life,  the  propagation 
of  Missions,  the  erection  of  Orphans'  Homes, 
Deaconesses'  Houses,  and  general  beneficent  and 
pious  activity.  Nowhere  in  the  world  is  the 
practical  result  of  Christianity  in  individual  up- 
rightness and  household  piety  so  marked  as  among 
the  Scandinavians,  who  are  almost  wholly  Luth- 
erans. Says  the  noted  traveler,  Du  Chaillu : 
*'  Passing  along  their  highways,  after  the  lamps 
are  lit,  the  farmers  may  be  seen  with  the  big 
Bible  on  the  table,  and  reading  it  to  the  family. 
Mothers  sit  by  the  cradle  of  their  babes  and  lull 
them  to  sleep  with  hymns  and  psalms.  They  say, 
"  We  want  our  children  from  their  birth  to  hear 

♦Kurtz's  Church  History,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  59. 


us  sing  praises  to  God ;  we  want  them  to  fear  and 
love  God  when  they  grow  up,  for  He  is  good  to 
us  all."  "There  are  tens  of  thousands  of  laymen, 
members  of  the  State  Church,  earnest  Christians, 
who  are  seeking  to  promote  the  cause  of  Christ 
in  a  manner  and  with  a  devotion  which  we  of 
another  temperament  and  country  can  scarcely 
comprehend.  Sunday  is  observed  as  a  Christian 
holy-day  in  all  places.  The  word  of  God  is 
preached  in  every  parish.  Wherever  you  go  you 
will  find  people  going  to  Church,  and  some  walk 
a  great  distance,  and  do  not  stay  at  home  on 
account  of  disagreeable  weather.  The  stores  and 
public  places  are  closed,  and  the  Sunday  laws  are 
kept  strictly  during  the  time  of  divine  services."* 
Speaking  of  the  sterling  honesty  of  the  people 
and  of  their  trust  in  each  other,  so  that  when  they 
leave  their  houses,  they  hang  up  the  key  on  the 
outside,  Congressman  S.  S.  Cox,  says:  "We 
left  our  •  umbrella  in  the  cars  (reaching 
Copenhagen) ;  and  as  an  illustration  of  the  regard 
to  the  meum  et  tuuni  which  obtains  among  these 
people,  we  afterwards  found  it  at  our  hotel  in 
Norway,  forwarded  as  if  it  were  actual  property, 
and  at  a  cost  too  small  to  record."  The    first 

*Hand  Book  of  I.utherainsm,  p.  125. 


132 

Protestant  foreign  mission,  and  the  only  one 
of  the  Protestant  Church  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, was  estabhshed  by  Swedish  Lutherans. 
Since  then  their  missions  have  reached  all 
lands.  No  Wonder  that  these  pious  Scan- 
dinavian Lutherans,  out  of  their  comparative 
poverty,  giving  so  generously  to  carry  the  gospel 
to  the  heathen,  resent  as  an  abuse  of  Christian 
courtesy  and  charity,  the  action  of  some  Ameri- 
can sects  in  treating  them  as  heathen,  and  appro- 
priating more  money  for  their  conversion  than 
they  do  for  the  dark  continent  of  Africa. 

Of  Germany,  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  when 
the  Lutheran  type  of  piety  was  very  marked  and 
prevalent,  Kahnis  writes :  "In  the  houses  Bible 
and  hymn  book  were  the  first  and  the  last,  the 
most  faithful  advisers  in  all  the  events  of  life.  In 
the  higher,  as  well  as  in  the  elementary  schools, 
the  confession  of  the  fathers  was  considered  as 
the  chief  knowledge ;  to  be  regular  in  attending 
the  house  of  the  Lord,  and  in  coming  to  the  table 
of  the  Lord,  formed  part  of  the  family  honor. 
All  the  ordinances  of  rank,  of  law,  of  the  State, 
were  connected  with  religion."*  To-day," Societies 
for  the  better  observance  of  the  Lord's  day ;  for 

*History  of  German  Protestantism,  p.  251. 


133 

the  promotion  of  temperance,  the  improvement 
of  prison  discipline  and  the  care  of  dismissed  con- 
victs; the  estabUshment  of  institutions  for  the 
laboring  classes,  colliers,  sailors,  orphans  and  the 
poor;  and  of  asylums,  hospitals,  and  deaconess 
homes  ;  and  all  the  efforts  and  means  for  the  moral 
and  religious  reformatory  movements,  which  are 
comprehended  under  the  name  of  Inner  Mission, 
are  multiplying  in  every  quarter."* 

American  Christians  with  Puritanic  and  anti- 
Lutheran  prejudices  who  visit  Europe  often  bring 
back  unfavorable  reports  as  to  the  state  of  religion 
in  Lutheran  lands  and  capitals.  A  few  facts  are 
quite  sufficient  to  refute  these  prejudiced  mis- 
representations. Thus,  it  is  charged  that  Berlin 
is  an  utterly  irreligious  city  and  that  Christianity 
and  the  Church  are  there  destitute  of  life  and 
activity.  Yet  there  are  at  present  26  Churches 
in  process  of  erection  in  Berlin,  and  some  of  these 
so  large  that  most  of  our  edifices  in  comparison 
are  but  chapels.  Where  can  such  Church  Exten- 
sion activity  be  surpassed?  And  in  each  of  these 
great  Churches  there  are  held  numerous  successive 
services  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  frequendy  during 
the  week.     The  lack  of  Church  accomodations  is 

*Hand  Book  of  Lutheranism,  p.  14. 


134 

often  spoken  of  as  a  matter  of  reproach  to  these 
Lutheran  lands.  Yet  several  years  ago  the  Inde- 
pendent showed  that  the  German  Empire  had  a 
Protestant  (Lutheran)  population  of  30,964,274, 
and  24,996  Protestant  houses  of  worship,  i.e.,  one 
Church  for  every  1,240  people,  old  and  young. 
This  is  amply  sufficient.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
taking  the  adults  alone,  the  ratio  was,  in  Prussia, 
one  Church  to  435,  in  Denmark,  one  to  400,  and 
in  Wurtemberg,  one  to  337.  No  better  and  more 
sufficient  Church  accomodations  than  these  can 
be  found  elsewhere.  This  Churchly  piety  extends 
from  the  hut  to  the  throne.  Not  only  are  the 
Lutheran  Emperor  and  Empress  regular  wor- 
shipers, but  they  show  the  liveliest  interest  in 
Christian  and  Churchly  enterprises,  and  sustain 
them  by  princely  gifts  of  private  generosity.  "The 
Lutheran  Church  in  Prussia  embraces  6,900  pas- 
toral charges,  200  of  which  were  organized  within 
the  last  four  years.  The  annual  number  of  con- 
firmations is  318,000.  There  are  2,200  young- 
men  studying  for  the  ministry  in  this  Church. 
The  gifts  made  in  1891  for  the  charitable  objects 
of  the  Church  amounted  to  $1,050,000.  "Out  of 
a  Protestant  population  of  18,000,000,  statistics 
show  that  5,980,140  had  communed  within  the 
last  year — a  better  showing  than  this  country  can 


135 

make.  Of  the  Protestant  population  of  the  United 
States  only  one-fifth  are  communicants,  and  in 
Prussia  we  have  one-third  of  the  population  not 
merely  entitled  to  communion,  but  actually  par- 
ticipating in  the  Lord's  Supper  within  a  year."* 
For  the  whole  empire  the  average  of  those 
confirmed  who  communed  was  48^  per  cent.,  9 
per  cent  being  the  lowest,  and  81  per  cent, 
beino-  the  highest.  The  notable  feature,  however, 
was  that  the  lowest  percentage  was  at  Hamburg, 
where  liberalism  has  made  the  greatest  inroads 
and  where  confessional  Lutheranism  is  weakest. 
And  the  very  highest  averages  were  maintained 
in  the  strictly  Lutheran  parts  of  the  empire,  and 
among  the  separatistic  Lutheran  congregations, 
as  the  one  at  Zwickau. 

The  same  is  true  of  Lutherans  in  the  United 
States,  that  they  constitute  the  most  reliably  in- 
dustrious and  religious  elements  of  the  population, 
and  that  their  quiet  and  unobtrusive,  but  thorough 
piety,  is  every  day  being  more  felt  and  acknow- 
ledged. "The  real  judgment  of  the  vigor  of  our 
spiritual  life  is  based  upon  a  comparison  with  the 
spiritual  life  of  present  religious  bodies.  As  com- 
pared with  them,  the  result  is  on  the  whole  favor- 

*Rev.  G.  F.  Behringer  in  Lutheran  Observer. 


136 

able.  Our  Church  is  respected  and  esteemed  by 
the  best  ministers  and  best  members  of  other 
Churches.  It  has  not  only  now  place  and  recog- 
nition, but  maintains  them  with  increasing  power."* 

The  Lutheran  Church  is  the  parent  of  modern 
evangelical  missions.  A  Lutheran  King  of  Den- 
mark sent  the  first  Protestant  Missionaries  to 
India,  where  the  name  of  the  Lutheran  Schwarz 
yet  lives  among  the  Christian  natives  in  undying 
fragrance.  And  "the  Lutheran  Church  was 
carrying  forward  on  a  vast  scale  a  successful 
mission  in  India  one  hundred  years  before  any  of 
the  English  Churches  had  a  single  missionary 
station  in  heathen  lands. "f  The  Herrmansburg 
Missionary  Society  in  Germany,  founded  by  the 
Lutheran,  Harms,  has  been  so  wonderfully  blessed, 
and  the  means  of  sending  out  so  many  mission- 
aries to  heathen  lands,  as  to  win  the  envious 
title:  "The  Wonder  of  the  Mission  World."  And 
the  first  religious  book  translated  for  the  evangeli- 
zation of  our  American  Indians  was  Luther's 
Catechism,  by  Campanius,  a  Swedish  Lutheran 
pastor.  The  Lutheran  Church  has  47  chartered 
missionary  societies  at  work  among  the  heathen. 

*Rev.  C.  S.  Albert,  D.D.,  in  Lutheran  Observer. 
fLutherans  in  America — Wolf,  p.  494. 


137 

These  societies  have  185  stations  in  Asia,  505  in 
Africa,  and  12  in  Australia.  On  these  700  stations, 
occupied  as  centres  of  mission  labor,  there  are 
2,355  missionaries,  100  native  preachers,  12,014 
other  native  helpers.  On  the  700  mission  stations, 
there  are  210,000  members,  1,000  schools,  and 
60,000  pupils.  The  annual  income  of  the  societies 
is  $1,200,000.  Its  fields  of  Labor  are:  Japan, 
Southern  China,  Sumatra,  Borneo,  Farther  India, 
Central  and  Southern  India,  Persia,  Palestine,  in 
Asia;  Bogss-land,  Galla-land,  German  East  Africa, 
Madagascar,  Natal,  Transvaal  and  Orange  Free 
State,  Cape  Colony,  Namaqualand,  the  Congo, 
the  Cameroons  and  Togeland,  Slave  Coast,  Gold 
Coast,  Liberia,  Senegambia,  in  Africa;  Queensland, 
New  Zealand  and  New  Guinea,  in  Australia. 
Greenland  and  Lapland  are  not  counted  in, 
because  they  are  almost  Christianized — thro'  her 
efforts."*  These  figures  are  much  larger  at  this 
writing. 

The  first  and  greatest  Orphan  Asylum,  was 
founded  in  a  Lutheran  Country,  Halle,  Germany, 
and  by  a  Lutheran,  Francke.  At  his  death  it 
provided  for  2,000  orphans,  and  it  has  been  the 
blessed  seed  of  similar  institutions  now  scattered 
all  over  the  world. 

♦Mission  Tract.  Dr.  Wackernagel,  Muhlenberg  College. 


138 

The  institution  of  Protestant  Deaconesses,  re- 
sembling the  Catholic  sisterhoods  of  charity,  was 
founded  by  a  Lutheran  pastor,  Fliedner,  at  Kaiser- 
werth.,  Germany.  From  this  beginning,  in  1836, 
the  order  has  spread  through  Germany,  Switzer- 
land, France,  Scandinavia,  Russia,  Austria, 
England,  and  the  United  States,  until  there  are 
now  87  Deaconess  Houses,  with  21,974  sisters 
and  7,928  labor  stations.  "Germany,"  says  the 
Independent,  "leads  all  Christian  countries  in  this 
work."  The  most  splendid  of  these  in  the  United 
States  is  the  Mary  J.  Drexel  Home  and  Mother 
House  of  Deaconesses  at  Philadelphia,  founded 
by  the  gift  of  $500,000,  and  supported  by  its 
Lutheran  founder,  John  D.  Lankenau,  Esq.,  while 
he  lived.  In  all,  there  are  181  Orphans'  Homes, 
Deaconess  Houses,  Hospitals,  Hospices,  etc.,  in 
the  United  States. 

The  Lutheran  piety,  then,  is  the  brightest  gem 
in  her  coronet  of  Christian  graces.  It  is  joyous, 
as  well  as  stable;  practical,  while  Churchly  and 
conservative ;  and  knows  how,  from  the  still 
closet  of  a  holy  mysticism,  to  go  forth  in  the  world 
and  serve  God  with  works  of  power.  The  purest 
orthodoxy  should  not  be  dead,  but  the  tree  that 
bears  the  best  and  most  plentiful  deeds  of  practical 
piety.     Lutherans   best  serve  their  Church,  and 


139 

honor  its  faith,  when  "having  the  form  of  godh'- 
ness  thc}'^  do  not  deny  the  power  thereof,"  but 
when  it  can  be  said  of  them  as  of  Luther,  that 
**the  confessor  of  the  righteousness  of  faith  had 
what  he  confessed  and  was  what  he  taught." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

CHRISTIAN    NURTURE,    OR    CHILDREN    IN    THE 
LUTHERAN    CHURCH. 

THE  Lutheran  Doctrine  of  Baptism  involves 
the  idea  of  Christian  Nurture.  It  is  that 
Baptism  is  to  be  applied  to  infants,  and  that 
Baptism  is  thebeginningof  the  spiritual  life.  This 
holy  beginning,  or  quickening,  is  thenceforward  to 
be  fostered  and  developed  by  the  use  of  the  means 
of  grace.  As  intelligence  dawns,  the  baptismal 
covenant  is  to  be  unfolded  to  the  child,  viz.  that 
by  it  he  is  admitted  into  the  kingdom  of  God  and 
called  to  salvation  and  eternal  life.  Then  by  the 
Word,  and  later  on  by  the  Sacrament,  the  grace 
of  his  Baptism  is  to  be  nourished  and  strengthened 
unto  full  and  ever-growing  Christian  stature. 
That  is,  the  child's  spiritual  life  is  to  repeat  that 
of  the  holy  and  model  child  Jesus,  viz.  "And  the 


141 

Child  grew,  and  waxed  strong  in  spirit,  filled  with 
wisdom;  and  the  grace  of  God  was  upon  Him" 
(Luke  ii ;  40). 

The  Scriptures  consistently  thus  represent  the 
spiritual  life  as  a  growth,  a  development,  an 
orderly  progress,  after  the  semblance  of  the 
natural  life.  "  So  is  the  kingdom  of  God,  as  if  a 
man  should  cast  seed  in  the  ground — and  the  seed 
should  spring  and  grow  up — first  the  blade,  then 
the  ear,  after  that  the  full  corn  in  the  ear"  (Mark 
iv;  26-28).  Children,  thus,  being  in  the  kingdom 
of  God  by  baptism,  and  having  the  new  spiritual 
life  therein  begun  in  them,  are  already  in  a  state 
of  grace.  And  all  that  they  have  to  do  is  to 
"keep"  and  nurture  that  "good  thing  which  was 
committed  unto  them  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which 
dwelleth  in  them"  (2.  Tim.  i;  14).  The  theory  of 
the  Churches  which  deny  baptismal  grace  and  the 
beginning  of  the  spiritual  life  therein,  is  that 
children  are  in  a  condition  of  spiritual  death,  out 
of  which  they  must  be  aroused  by  some  great  and 
sudden  spiritual  excitement,  conflict,  and  experi- 
ence. 

The  decisive  objection  to  this  view  is  that  it 
leaves  children  and  youth  during  all  their  early 
years  in  the  attitude  of  unregenerated  souls,  who, 
should  they  die,  would  die  unconverted  and  be 


142 

lost.  And  then  it  contradicts  the  scriptural  order 
of  the  life  of  grace  which  is  that  of  a  gradual 
process  of  growth,  instead  of  that  of  a  sudden 
and  violent  change.  The  Lutheran  idea,  then,  of 
Christian  Nurture  rests  upon  the  idea  that  child- 
ren in  baptism  are  "planted  in  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord  and  Savior,"  and  that  all  through  their  early 
years  this  formative  power  of  grace  is  developing 
them  into  spiritual  manhood.  They  do  not  look 
forward  to  conversion,  but  God  has  already 
accepted  them,  and  they  enjoy  the  divine  favor. 
But  here  then  comes  the  responsibility  of 
parents  and  sponsors.  If  the  new  life  is  to  be 
gradually  developed  during  youth,  and  not  to  be 
suddenly  acquired  at  a  later  period,  then  all  the 
means  of  grace  must  be  most  carefully  applied 
during  this  critical  season.  Hence  the  duty  of 
Christian  Nurture.  For  this,  accordingly,  the 
Lutheran  Church  makes  careful  provision.  In 
the  formula  of  baptism  this  obligation  is  thus 
urged  :  "  I  now  admonish  you,  who  have  done  so 
charitable  a  work  to  this  child  in  its  Baptism, 
that  ye  diligently  and  faithfully  teach  it,  or  have 
it  taught,  that  it  may  learn  to  know  the  will  of 
God,  to  obtain  grace,  and  find  help  to  lead  a 
Christian  life,  till  God  shall  perfect  that  which  He 
hath  now  begun  in  it,  and  bring  it  to  life  ever- 


143 

lasting."  In  order  to  fulfill  this  obligation  there 
results  the  duty  of  religious  instruction  at  home, 
in  school,  and  in  Church. 

That  this  might  be  efficiently  done  Luther  pre- 
pared the  Catechism,  wherein  children  should  be 
taught  in  a  plain  and  Scriptural  manner  the  plan 
of  salvation  as  exemplified  in  the  Ten  Command- 
ments or  Law,  in  the  Creed  or  Gospel,  in  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  and  in  the  Holy  Sacraments  as 
the  Means  of  Grace.  Of  the  great  importance 
of  this  religious  agency,  Luther  wrote:  "The 
Catechism  is  the  first  and  most  important  instruct- 
tion  for  children.  Catechisation  ought  to  be 
diligendy  practiced  by  every  parent  at  home,  and 
by  every  pastor  in  the  Church.  No  one  can  be- 
come master  of  the  whole  catechism,  and  hence 
all  the  members  of  the  Church  should  continue 
to  study  it.  Let  no  one  be  ashamed  of  it,  but 
adhere  to  it  steadfastly,  for  it  must  remain  and 
attain  the  ascendency  in  the  Church,  though  earth 
and  hell  rage  against  it."  The  catechisation  ot 
the  young,  then,  their  careful  and  systematic  in- 
struction  in  the  elementary  truths  of  Christianity 
and  the  order  of  salvation,  is  diligently  practiced 
everywhere  by  the  Lutheran  Church.  She  believes 
that  childhood  and  youth  are  the  golden  season 
to  "  Remember  thy  Creator,"  and  the  opportune 


144 

age  to  find  Him  who  has  promised:  "Those  that 
seek  Me  early  shall  find  me  "  (Prov.  viii ;  1 7).  And 
then,  when  the  young  intelligently  comprehend 
their  baptismal  covenant,  and  are  ready  to  ratify 
it  for  themselves,  and  are  spiritually  strong 
enough  to  run  for  themselves  the  Christian  race, 
they  come  out  and  make  their  good  confession  at 
the  altar  by  the  holy  rite  of  Confirmation.  "The 
General  Synod  *  *  *  lays  the  utmost  stress  upon 
the  duty  of  bringing  up  the  young  in  'the  nurture 
and  admonition  of  the  Lord,'  especially  those  to 
whom  God,  through  holy  baptism,  has  given  the 
'adoption  of  children",'  that  they  may  become, 
and  truly  be,  in  heart  and  life,  all  that  is  meant  in 
their  divinely-given  Church-membership.  As 
'the  force,  value,  and  blessing  of  the  baptismal 
covenant  and  grace  are  to  extend  through  their 
whole  subsequent  lives,'  the  method  of  their 
proper  care  and  spiritual  development  is  regarded 
as  distinctively  educational,  under  the  regenerat- 
ing and  sanctifying  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
through  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  Christ.  *  *  * 
Catechisation,  therefore,  is  not  looked  upon  as  a 
mere  routine  formality,  or  a  process  of  simply 
intellectual  indoctrination,  that  shall,  of  course, 
terminate  in  confirmation,  irrespective  of  genuine 
faith,    spiritual    interest,    or   a   purpose    of    true 


145 
Christian  obedience  on  the  part  of  the  catechu- 


mens.  * 


The  Lutheran  Church  has  thus  ever  had  a 
warm  place  in  her  fold  for  the  tender  lambs,  and 
her  whole  history  exemplifies  those  sweet  words 
of  Jesus  :  "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto 
Me,  and  forbid  them  not;  for  of  such  is  the 
kingdom  of  God"  (Mark  x  ;  14).  "The  Lutheran 
Church  devotes  her  best  strength  to  the  religious 
instruction  and  training  of  the  young.  She  has 
in  this  land  nearly  10,000  pastors  annually  cate- 
chising them.  She  has  nearly  1,000,000  scholars 
in  Sunday  Schools."!  But  her  experience  has 
been  that,  valuable  as  is  the  Sunday  School  as  a 
spiritual  agency,  yet  the  instruction  given  there 
but  one  hour  in  the  week,  and  the  catechetical 
teaching  of  the  pastor,  with  the  very  little  that 
too  often  alas!  is  imparted  at  home,  is  not 
sufficient  to  counteract  the  abounding  worldly 
temptations  and  influences  at  work  to  weaken 
religious  impressions.  This  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  so  many  of  those  confirmed  after  a  short 
time  relapse,  and  fall  away  from  their  good  con- 
fession.    Hence,  in  foreign  lands,  Lutheran  child- 

*"  Distinctive  Doctrines  and  Usages   of    Lutheran    Bodies." — 
Prof.  M.  Valentine,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  pp.  51  and  52. 
■{■The  Lutheran  Church— Schmauk,  p.  9. 


146 

ren  receive  regular  religious  instruction  as  a  part 
of  their  daily  school  curriculum  for  years  both 
before  and  after  confirmation. 

And  in  America,  where  such  religious  instruc- 
tion is  not  given  in  the  Public  Schools,  to  meet 
this  want,  there  has  arisen  the  Parochial  School. 
This  is  a  school  in  connection  v/ith  a  congregation, 
supported  and  managed  by  it.  Of  these  Lutheran 
Parochial  Schools  there  are  about  5,000  in  the 
United  States,  with  about  500,000  scholars.  In 
addition  to  secular  instruction,  the  scholars  are 
taught  daily  the  Catechism,  Bible  History,  the 
Life  of  Christ,  Church  History,  the  Reformation, 
the  Augsburg  Confession,  etc.  "  In  most  of  the 
non-religious  subjects  of  instruction,  the  English 
[these  are  chiefly  German  schools,]  tongue  is  used 
in  the  class-room."  Writes  one  of  their  advo- 
cates:  "  We  cannot  be  satisfied  with  having  our 
children  instructed  an  hour  a  week  in  matters  that 
pertain  to  the  eternal  salvation  of  their  immortal 
souls.  We  are  convinced,  and  this  conviction  of 
ours  is  based  upon  experience,  that  if  our  children 
are  to  receive  a  thorough  knowledge  and  lasting 
impression  of  the  Bible,  its  divine  truths  and 
commandments,  they  are  in  need  oi daily  religious 
instruction.  The  law  ot  God  will  have  to  be 
called   to   their  minds,    explained  to   them,    and 


147 

brought  home  to  their  hearts  day  after  day.  Even 
the  secular  sciences  taught  in  our  schools  are 
pervaded  by  a  Christian  spirit.  That  is  what  we, 
under  present  circumstances,  deem  the  best,  if 
not  the  only  correct  method  of  bringing  up  our 
children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the 
Lord ;  and  that  is  the  reason  why  we  Lutherans 
make  it  a  practice  to  establish,  build,  and  maintain 
parochial  schools."*  When  we  see  this  motive 
and  hear  these  plausible  arguments,  and  remem- 
ber the  pious  sacrifice  prompting  the  support  of 
these  parochial  schools,  while  the  national  public 
schools  must  be  supported  in  addition,  we  cannot 
but  admire  the  spirit  shown. 

The  truth  is  the  lack  ot  religion  in  America  as 
a  part  of  the  daily  tutelage  of  the  young  is  rapidly 
becoming  one  of  the  greatest  problems  of  the 
hour.  To  it,  more  than  to  all  other  causes  must 
be  traced  the  growing  irreligion  of  our  youth,  and 
the  indifference  of  the  masses  to  the  Church.  These 
evils  are  largely  owing  to  the  want  of  a  specific 
system  of  Christian  Nurture,  such  as  prevails  in 
the  Lutheran  Church.  And  what  our  Church  in 
this  country  needs  is  to  adhere  to  these  judicious 
principles,  and  not  alone  to  hold  them  in  theory, 

*Hand  Book  of  Lutheranism,  p.  420. 


148 

but  to  reduce  them  to  practice.  The  grave  re- 
sponsibiHty  resting  upon  Lutheran  pastors  and 
parents,  is  to  see  to  it  that  the  children  of  the 
Church  are  not  spiritually  neglected,  but  that  they 
grow  up  under  such  constant  religious  influences 
as  shall  hold  them  for  Christ,  and  develop  in  them 
a  strong  and  abiding  Christian  man  and  woman- 
hood. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


OUR    LUTHERAN    YOUNG    PEOPLE.'^ 

THE  young  people  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
considered  as  a  distinctive  class,  have  only 
come  into  prominence  within  the  past  few  years, 
since  our  Church  in  common  with  all  other 
denominations  has  realized  the  fact  that  the 
enlistment  of  her  young  people  is  necessary  for 
the  future  welfare  of  the  Church. 

Nothing  has  expressed  this  idea  more  forcibly 
than  a  paragraph  appearing  in  one  of  the  pam- 
phets  issued  by  the  Lutheran  Young  People's 
Association,  of  New  York,  which  reads  as  follows: 

"All  careful  observers  must  admit  that  the 
efforts  put  forth  by  the  Churches  of  all  denomina- 

*This  chapter  is  contributed,  at  the  author's  request,  by  E.  F. 
Eilert,  President  of  The  Luther  League  of  New  York,  and  Editor 
of  '■'■  Luther  League  Revieiv." 


I50 

tions  to  enlist  the  young  people  of  their  respective 
communities  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  are  of  the 
most  vital  importance  to  the  successful  evangeli- 
zation of  the  world,  because  the  young  men  and 
young  women  of  every  nation  have  in  their 
keeping  the  destiny  of  that  nation,  and  the  result 
will  be  either  for  or  against  the  Kingdom  of 
Christ,  just  in  the  proportion  in  which  the  Churches 
have  recognized  and  utilized  these  mighty  forces 
for  the  work  of  that  kingdom,  or  else  have  been 
recreant  in  their  trust,  and  have  allowed  the 
spiritual  life  to  become  dormant.  'Whatsoever  a 
man  sows,  that  shall  he  reap,'  is  no  truer  of  indi- 
viduals than  of  Churches.  That  these  facts  are 
accepted  as  of  supreme  importance  is  attested  by 
the  establishment  of  National  Associations  for 
young  people  by  many  denominations.  The 
Methodists  have  their  Epworth  League,  the 
Episcopalians  the  Brotherhood  of  St.  Andrew, 
the  Baptists  their  Baptist  Union,  and  the  Roman 
Catholics  a  very  strong  National  organization, 
while  the  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor,  and 
Young  Men's  Christian  Associations,  although 
undenominational  in  character,  are  wielding  an 
influence  that  has  been  felt  the  world  over.  The 
Lutheran  Church,  however,  has  exceptional 
opportunities  for  reaching  and  keeping  her  young 


151 

people  loyal  to  the  Kingdom  of  the  Saviour.  Her 
Sunday  School  system,  supplemented  by  a  six 
months'  course  of  catechetical  instruction,  and 
culminating  in  confirmation,  gives  her,  when  faith- 
fully carried  out,  an  immense  advantage  over  other 
denominations.  Unfortunately,  she  has  never 
made  the  fullest  use  of  her  opportunities,  owing 
pardy  to  mistaken  zeal  and  conflicting  languages, 
but  mostly  to  neglect  and  indifference." 

Appreciating  these  opportunities,  while  deplor- 
ing the  losses  heretofore  sustained,  the  young 
Lutherans  of  New  York  City  twenty-five  years 
ago  laid  the  first  stone  in  the  construction  of  a 
distinctive  Lutheran  Young  People's  Union,  which 
should  unite  in  a  common  bond  of  fellowship  and 
mutual  esteem,  the  young  people  of  all  the  various 
divisions  of  our  Church. 

The  success  of  the  Central  Association  thus 
formed  was  soon  manifest,  and  after  a  few  years 
trial  in  their  own  locality,  the  work  was  extended 
and  plans  made  for  the  establishment  of  similar 
Central  Associations  throughout  the  country. 

In  the  plea  issued  for  this  work  the  following 
appeared : 

"  One  of  the  greatest  evils  the  Lutheran  Church 
has  to  contend  with  is  the  proselyting  of  its  young 
people  by  other  denominations.    It  has  been  said 


152 

that  the  best  material  for  Church  workers  is  to  be 
found  among  the  young  Lutherans,  and  conse- 
quently they  are  much  sought  after.  As  the 
Lutheran  Church  has  offered  little  inducement 
and  encouragement  for  the  usefulness  of  the 
younger  element,  it  is  not  surprising  that  so  many 
are  taken  away  from  her  year  after  year,  and  be- 
come active  in  Churches  of  other  denominations 
and  among  societies  connected  therewith.  The 
plan  of  forming  Central  Associations  of  the  Young 
People's  Societies,  existing  in  certain  localities, 
and  urging  these  Central  bodies  to  see  to  it  that 
a  Young  People's  Society  is  to  be  found  in  every 
Lutheran  Congregation  in  that  locality,  or  district, 
is  one  of  the  remedies  that  has  been  offered  to 
overcome  this  great  evil." 

The  plan  has  met  with  favor  and  already  a 
number  of  Central  Associations  have  been  estab- 
lished in  many  States,  more  particularly  in  New 
York  State,  where  the  work  has  been  given 
special  attention,  resulting  in  the  establishment  of 
a  New  York  State  Association,  called  the  Luther 
League  of  New  York. 

While  the  movement  has  been  centered  largely 
in  the  East,  it  is  gaining  ground  all  over  the 
country,  and  the  organization  of  other  State  Asso- 


153 

ciations  and  the  formation  of  a  National  Union  is 
only  a  question  of  a  short  time. 

By  these  means  it  is  intended  to  have  our 
Lutheran  young  people  organized  as  thoroughly 
as  any  of  the  other  denominations  and  unitedly 
work  for  the  upbuilding  of  the  Church  and  the 
advancement  of  Christ's  Kingdom. 

Certainly  these  efforts  should  meet  with  the 
hearty  approval  of  all  our  pastors  and  congrega- 
tions, and  the  time  be  looked  forward  to  with  lively 
anticipation  when  our  young  people  will  be 
organized  into  one  grand  National  body. 

In  the  Lutheran  Churches,  unlike  those  of  other 
denominations  in  this  respect,  we  find  various 
forms  of  associations,  each  congregation  having 
such  organization  as  it  deems  most  suitable  for 
the  particular  field  in  which  it  is  located.  The 
Christian  Endeavor  Society  may  be  found  in  a 
number  of  congregations,  more  particularly  among 
Churches  of  the  General  Synod.  The  Luther 
Alliance  is  a  form  of  organization  first  inaugurated 
in  one  of  the  Synods  of  Pennsylvania.  It  uses  a 
liturgical  form  of  worship  and  adopts  a  particular 
constitution.  The  Alliance  form  has  met  with 
favor  in  many  quarters. 

The  form  of  association  which  is  most  common 
among  Lutheran  Churches  is  the  Young  People's 


154 

Society.  It  is  conducted  as  other  Church  organi- 
zations, and  is  usually  led  by  the  pastor  of  the 
congregation. 

These  organizations  are  adapted  to  the  indi- 
vidual requirements  of  the  congregation  with 
which  they  are  connected,  their  sphere,  in  some 
instances,  being  larger  than  in  others,  but  as  a 
usual  thing  having  the  care  of  the  young  people 
as  their  particular  mission. 

Among  the  German  Lutheran  Churches,  the 
Young  Men's  Association  predominates,  but 
usually  Young  Ladies'  Societies  are  also  connected 
with  these  congregations.  Their  work  is,  as  a 
rule,  similar  to  that  of  Young  People's  Societies. 

In  the  western  part  of  New  York  State  more 
especially  than  elsewhere,  the  beneficiary  plan  is 
used  by  a  number  of  Young  Men's  Associations. 
These  benevolent  associations  particularly  aim  to 
keep  within  the  folds  of  the  Church  the  young 
men  who  would  otherwise  join  beneficiary  orders 
or  institutions. 

An  examination  of  these  beneficiary  organiza- 
tions reveals  the  fact  that  two-thirds  are  German 
in  language  and  membership,  and  consequently 
draw  their  members  largely  from  our  German 
Churches. 

Among  the  Central  Associations  of  Lutheran 


155 

Young  People  already  organized  all  the  forms  of 
oro-anlzation  alluded  to  will  be  found.  It  is  not 
intended  to  recommend  any  of  the  particular  types 
of  associations,  as  each  pastor  and  congregation 
is  better  able  to  judge  the  requirements  of  their 
particular  Church  and  adopt  the  best  form  that  is 
to  be  had. 

All  associations  of  young  Lutherans,  no  matter 
by  what  name  the  association  is  known,  as 
long  as  they  are  connected  with  an  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church,  are  entitled  to  membership  in  a 
Central  Association. 

The  Young  People's  movement  which  is  so 
rapidly  developing  at  present  in  the  Lutheran 
Church  is  sui  generis.  Unlike  many  other  de- 
nominations our  young  people  make  no  claim  to 
any  "new*'  or  improved  method  of  spreading  the 
Gospel,  or  of  building  up  the  Church,  but  rely 
exclusively  upon  the  preached  Word  and  the 
faithful  use  of  the  Sacraments  for  the  propagation 
of  the  faith.  Occupying  a  unique  position,  mid- 
way between  pietistic  separatism  on  the  one  hand, 
and  the  torpid  inertia  resultant  from  formalism  on 
the  other,  this  movement  will  be  watched  with 
interest  by  the  whole  Church,  and  the  reflex 
influence  of  "youthful  enthusiasm"  cannot  fail  to 
stimulate  the  zeal  of  the  older  people. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


THE  LUTHERAN  CHURCH  AND  CULTURE. 

GERMANY  represents  the  highest  standpoint 
of  intellectual  culture  attained  in  the  history 
of  the  human  race.  "The  Germans,"  says  Emer- 
son, "are  the  modern  Greeks,  the  intellectual 
masters  of  the  world."  "  As  Israel  was  elected  to 
prepare  the  true  religion  for  the  world,  Greece  to 
develop  the  principles  of  science  and  art,  Rome 
to  actualize  the  idea  of  law  and  civil  gov3rnment 
— so  in  our  times  the  chief  significance  of  Ger- 
many lies  in  science  and  literature."*  As  Germany 
originated  the  Reformation,  and  thereby  revolu- 
tionized the  modern  history  of  man,  so  has  she 
been  the  centre  of  the  greatest  thought  move- 
ments of  the  age.  Her  thinkers  are  in  the  fore- 
front in  every  problem  of  mind,  and  her  scholars 

♦Germany  and  its  Universities — Schaff,  p.  8. 


157 

take  the  lead  in  every  department  of  investigation 
and  knowledge.  In  theology,  in  philosophy,  and 
in  science,  the  Germans  are  the  leaders.  "The 
German  mind  has  been  so  productive  in  almost 
all  branches  of  literary  effort,  that  the  annual 
issues  of  the  German  Press  have  numbered  many 
thousands.  *  *  *  In  philosophy  the  first  name  in 
the  order  of  merit  is  that  of  Immanuel  Kant.  A 
powerful  impulse  was  given  to  the  study  of  history 
by  Niebuhr.  German  researches  have  been 
carried  into  every  region  of  the  past.  A  host  of 
German  scholars  have  engaged  in  the  investiga- 
tion of  the  origin  and  interpretation  of  the  Bible. 
In  Biblical  criticism,  Ewald,  Tischendorf,  Meyer, 
Weiss,  are  theological  scholars  familiar  to  Biblical 
students  in  all  countries.  German  travelers  have 
explored  many  countries  of  the  globe.  Schlie- 
mann  has  uncovered  the  ruins  of  Troy.  In  math- 
ematics and  the  natural  sciences,  in  philology  and 
criticism,  in  philosophy,  in  law  and  the  political 
sciences,  and  in  the  different  branches  of  theology, 
the  world  acknowledges  its  debt  to  the  patient, 
methodical  investigations,  and  the  exhaustive  dis- 
cussions of  German  students  during  the  present 
century."* 

•Universal  History,  Prof.  Fisher,  Yale  College,  p.  629. 


IS8 

Says  Joseph  Cook:  "Germany  is  the  most 
learned  nation  on  the  globe.  The  leading  books 
in  every  scholar's  library  are  written  by  Ger- 
mans." In  1913  America  published  12,230  books, 
France  11,460,  England  12,379,  while  Germany 
published  35,078,  almost  as  many  more,  and 
of  a  more  scholarly  order.  Germany  is  the 
modern  Athens  —  the  literary  centre  toward 
which  the  students  of  all  countries  flock  to  com- 
plete a  cultured  education.  The  universities  of 
Germany  are  the  best  equipped,  attended  by  the 
largest  number  of  students,  and  the  most  re- 
nowned in  the  world.  In  the  year  191 3,  58,844 
students  attended  the  German  universities,  as 
against  but  8,440  students  at  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge, England.  The  Independent  says:  "The 
German  universities  are  the  most  cosmopolitan 
institutions  of  learning  in  the  world.  They  draw 
students  literally  from  every  cultured  land  and 
climate.  Of  the  58,844  students  matriculated  at 
these  high  schools  during  the  present  term  no 
fewer  than  5,193  are  foreigners."  "The  universi- 
ties are  the  pride  and  glory  of  Germany.  They 
are  the  centres  of  the  highest  intellectual  and 
literary  life  of  the  nation,  and  the  laboratories  of 
new  systems  of  thought  and  theories  of  action. 
They  reflect  a  picture  of  the  whole  world  of  nature 


159 

and  of  mind  under  its  ideal  form."*  Germany 
has  the  lowest  ratio  of  illiterates  in  the  world.  In 
the  Lutheran  kingdom  of  Wiirtemberg  in  every 
10,000  persons,  there  are  none  who  cannot  read 
and  write,  while  in  the  United  States  there  are 
770  in  every  10,000. 

And  as  Germany  is  the  origin  and  chief  centre 
of  the  Lutheran  Church,  it  is  inevitable  that  this 
same  literary  pre-eminence  should  characterize 
this  communion.  As  a  rule,  the  great  universities 
are  either  exclusively  Lutheran,  or  Lutheran 
professors  have  a  controlling  influence.  The 
greatest  theologians  and  biblical  scholars  have 
been  those  of  the  Lutheran  Church.  "German 
theological  science  comes  forth  from  the  Lutheran 
Church.  The  theology  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
supported  by  German  diligence,  thoroughness, 
and  profundity,  stage  by  stage,  amid  manifold 
struggles  and  revolutions,  arose  to  an  amazing 
elevation,  astounding  and  incomprehensible  to  the 
Swiss,  the  French,  and  the  English."J 

"The  Lutheran  Church,"  says  the  Reformed 
Lange,  "is  the  Church  of  theologians."     "Her 

♦Germany  and  its  Universities — Schaflf,  p.  27. 
|Goebel,  pp.  263,  267,  quoted   in    Krauth's  Conservative  Re- 
formation. 


i6o 

universities,"  writes  Dr.  Seiss,  "have  been  the 
glory  of  Germany  for  the  last  three  hundred 
years ;  and  her  critics  and  religious  teachers  have 
been  the  leading  instructors  of  Christendom  from 
the  days  of  Luther  until  now.  Take  from  the 
religious  literature  of  the  nations  all  that  has  been, 
directly  or  indirectly,  derived  from  Lutheran 
divines,  and  the  ecclesiastical  heavens  would  be 
bereft  of  most  of  its  stars.  Strike  out  the  long 
list  of  Lutheran  names  and  writings,  in  whatever 
department,  which  each  of  these  past  three  centu- 
ries has  furnished,  and  a  void  would  be  made  for 
which  all  the  ages  could  produce  no  adequate 
compensation."*  "The  first,"  says  Dr.  Wolf,  "to 
liberate  the  human  mind  from  mediaeval  darkness 
and  error,  the  Lutheran  Church  has  always  fos- 
tered thorough  intellectual  culture.  Her  scholars 
have  within  the  present  century  restored  the 
glories  of  the  best  age  of  Christian  learning.  Her 
wonderful  literature,  her  great  universities,  her 
systems  of  popular  education  are  felt  by  the 
world."t 

Prof.  Painter,  of  Roanake  College,  in  his  work 
"Luther  on  Education,"  shows  that  Luther,  by 

*Eccle3ia  Lutherana,  p.  127. 
^Lutherans  in  America,  p.  476. 


i6i 

his  efforts  to  adapt  instruction   to    children,  his 
reorganization    of    schools,    introducing    graded 
instruction,  improved  courses  of  study,  etc.,  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  modern  educational  system, 
which  begins  with  the  common  school  and  ends 
with   the   university.      "The    German   common 
schools,  dating  from  Luther,  may  claim  to  be  the 
oldest  in  Europe  or  America."*     Thus  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  through  her  many-sided   and  far- 
seeing  founder,  and  through  her  literary  outfit  in 
Germany  has  really  given  the  world  the  system 
of  public  schools,  as  well  as  the  great  university. 
"  Perhaps  in  our  practical  Church  work  we  do  not 
sufficiently  appreciate  the  fact  that  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church,  in  her  origin,  history  and  char- 
acter,   is    Germanic,  just   as    the  Episcopal  and 
Methodist  Churches  are  English,  and  the  Presby- 
terian is  Scotch.     As  the  doctrinal  system  of  a 
Church  penetrates  a  nation,  so  the  national  and 
ethnological    characteristics    of  a  nation  impress 
themselves  upon  the  Church.    So,  through  centu- 
ries, Lutheranism,  more  than  anything  else,  has 
made  the  Germans  and  Scandinavians  what  they 
are,  and  it  is  natural  that  the  human  elements  of 
Lutheranism  should  be  Germanic.     It  is  not  an 

*Dr.  J.  M.  Gregory,  Address  to  National  Educational  Associa- 
tion of  the  U.  S.,  endorsed  and  circulated  as  an  official  paper  by  our 
Government. 


l62 

accident  that  the  Germanic  populations  should  feel 
most  at  home  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  that 
the  Lutheran  Church  has  her  greatest  success 
among  these  people.""^ 

The  same  literary  activity  characterizes  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  America.  In  the  face  of  the 
greatest  disadvantages,  its  scholarly  ideal  has 
moved  it  to  the  establishment  of  manifold  colleges, 
theological  seminaries,  and  religious  periodicals, 
and  to  the  formation  of  a  distinctive  Lutheran 
literature  ever  becoming  more  worthy  of  its 
historic  character. 

This  high  degree  of  literary  culture  in  the 
Lutheran  Church  naturally  influences  her  methods. 
Larofe  intellieence  leads  to  moderation  and  en- 
lightened  judgment.  The  emotional  and  sensa- 
tional religious  methods,  begotten  of  ignorance 
and  illiteracy,  are  foreign  to  her.  The  culture  of  her 
ministry  and  of  her  people  lifts  them  quite  above 
these  weak  and  ephemeral  means.  Accordingly, 
in  her  preaching,  in  her  liturgical  worship,  in  her 
methods  of  evangelization,  everything  "is  done 
decently  and  in  order."  There  may  be  Churches 
that  have  more  money,  but  not  that  have  better 
judgment  and  taste  than  the  Lutheran.  There 
may   be    Churches   that   draw  more  largely  the 

*Rev.  J.  N.  Lenker,  in  the  Lutheran  World. 


i63 

untutored  and  novelty  loving  throng  who  wander 
like  ecclesiastical  tramps  from  one  sensational 
glare  to  another,  but  no  one,  we  believe,  has  so 
solid,  so  regular,  so  quiet,  orderly,  and  sensible  a 
membership.  The  Lutheran  Church,  accordingly, 
flourishes  best  in  the  most  highly  cultivated 
communities,  and  naturally  attracts  the  thoughtful 
and  cultured  classes. 

Lutherans  sometimes  seem  ignorant  of  this 
high  character  and  standing  of  their  own  Church, 
and  even  seem  to  think  slightingly  of  it  as  com- 
pared with  others.  But  the  truly  enlightened  and 
cultured  of  other  Churches  put  a  very  different 
estimate  on  the  Lutheran  Church.  They  look  up 
to  it  with  the  greatest  respect,  and  to  them  one 
can  bring  no  higher  claim  for  regard  than  to  say: 
"  I  am  a  Lutheran." 

To  belong  to  a  Church,  the  theological  pre- 
ceptress of  the  world,  the  nursery  of  the  foremost 
intellectual  culture  of  the  age,  and  that  has  among 
its  members  more  crowned  heads,  more  erudite 
scholars,  and  more  cultivated  peoples  than  any 
other,  certainly  has  nothing  in  it  to  lower  a 
Lutheran's  proper  self-esteem. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    LUTHERAN    CHURCH    AND    SACRED    ART. 

NO  factor,  in  every  age,  has  had  a  more  potent 
influence  upon  the  emotions  of  men  than 
Art — the  representation  by  material  objects  and 
emblems  of  the  true  and  beautiful.  In  a  large 
sense,  Nature  herself  is  supreme  Art,  for  all  the 
lovely  and  varied  forms  of  Nature  are  types, 
symbols,  and  signs,  of  the  invisible  world  of 
thought.  Inevitable  is  it,  therefore,  that  Art 
should  have  a  place  in  connection  with  Religion, 
and  be  taken  into  its  employ  as  its  handmaiden 
and  servant.  The  truest,  highest  Art  is  that 
which  leads  the  imagination  toward  the  invisible 
by  means  of  the  visible — that  which  makes  Nature 
a  stepping  stone  to  the  Creator.  Hence,  the 
prominent  place  which  Art  has  occupied  in  all  the 
natural  religions,  those  "growing  wild."     "It  is 


i65 

an  immutable  truth  that  Art  and  ReHgion  are  in- 
separably united.  Through  music,  poetry,  paint- 
ing, sculpture  and  architecture,  the  spiritual  can 
appeal  directly  to  the  human  soul  with  a  force 
that  is  irresistible.  The  Cathedrals  and  Churches 
of  Europe,  solemn  and  majestic,  full  of  dim  light 
and  strange  stillness,  with  their  splendid  ritual,  have 
done  much  toward  the  spread  and  preservation 
of  Christianity.  Art  is  the  ready  servant  and  ally 
of  the  Church,  and  never  have  her  proffered  services, 
in  the  shape  of  ritual  and  adornment,  been  accepted 
without  vast  benefits,  as,  on  the  other  hand,  never 
have  they  been  rejected  without  corresponding 
loss."* 

With  the  appearance  of  Revelation  we  find  this 
agency  at  once  utilized.  The  Old  Testament 
Religion  was  set  in  the  framework  of  Art. 
Symbols  were  everywhere  employed  as  the 
teachers  of  sacred  truth.  The  glittering  Shekinah, 
or  emblem  of  the  divine  glory ;  the  altar,  typify- 
ing the  one  great  sacrifice  for  sin ;  the  golden 
candlestick,  a  symbol  of  the  holy  light  of  revela- 
tion; all  were  of  a  "typical  character,  and  eminently 
subservient  to  the  religious  instruction  and  benefit 
of  mankind,  by  shadowing  forth  in  their  leading 
features    the    grand    truths     of    the    Christian 

*Tht  Architectural  Record,  Vol,  II,  No.  3,  p.  352. 


1 66 

Church.""^'  Our  blessed  Lord  illustrated  the  same 
general  principles  in  His  instructions.  His  system 
of  teaching  was  largely  parabolic.  His  most  ex- 
quisite lessons  were  uttered  in  parables.  The 
similitudes  between  nature  and  truth  He  artfully 
applied  to  moral  uses.  The  Lily,  the  Vine,  the 
Flowers  of  the  field,  the  Wheat  and  the  Tare, 
afforded  Him  apt  object  lessons.  The  book  of 
Revelation  most  notably  exemplifies  this  princi- 
ple. It  is  chiefly  constructed  of  religious  sym- 
bology.  From  first  to  last,  it  is  a  grand  and 
majestic  gallery  of  sacred  art.  The  sublimest 
dispensations  of  God  in  the  destiny  of  the  Church, 
and  in  the  fate  of  the  world,  are  here  painted  in 
types  and  symbols  on  the  canvass  of  inspiration. 

How  natural,  then,  that  artistic  representation 
of  the  true  and  divine  should  be  enlisted  in  the 
service  of  Christianity.  And  history  shows  this 
to  be  the  case.  The  earliest  illustrations  we 
have,  of  course,  are  in  the  Catacombs.  Says  the 
Church  historian,  Kurtz:  "The  great  abundance 
of  paintings  on  the  walls  of  the  catacombs,  of 
which  many  belong  to  the  second  century,  some 
indeed,  perhaps,  to  the  last  decades  of  the  first 
century,  served  to  show  how  general  and  livel}- 

*Jamieson-Fausset-Brown  Commentary,  p.  61;. 


1 6/ 

was  the  artistic  sense  among  the  earUest 
Christians."*  These  catacombs  where  the  perse- 
cuted Christians  fled,  were  really  Churches,  con- 
taining their  sanctuaries  of  worship,  and  their 
altars  on  which  were  celebrated  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment. The  artistic  designs  were  numerous 
symbolical  devices  of  the  Christian  faith.  The 
principal  one,  however — in  the  desire  to  reproduce 
which,  beyond  doubt,  all  Christian  Art  originated 
— was  the  figure  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  is  repre- 
sented in  all  conceivable  Scripture  forms,  the  one 
most  in  favor  being  that  of  the  Good  Shepherd. 
When,  after  the  victory  of  Christianity  through 
Constantine,  Churches  were  built  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal art  more  developed,  "the  centre  of  the 
whole  house  of  God  was  the  altar,  since  the  fifth 
century,  commonly  of  stone,  often  overlaid  with 
gold  and  silver."t  In  the  great  Cathedrals  of  the 
Middle  Aees  the  instinct  for  Christian  Art  em- 
bodied  itself  in  those  imposing  edifices  which  will 
forever  remain  the  noblest  monuments  of 
the  o-enius  of  man,  exalted  by  the  sentiment  of 
pious  devotion.  The  loftiest  of  these  is  the 
magnificent  Lutheran  Cathedral  at  Ulm,  begun  in 
1377  and  completed  in  1889,  holding  30,000  peo- 

*Churck  History,  Vol.  I,  p.  215. 
|Church  History,  Kurtz,  Vol.  I,  p.  384. 


i68 

pie,  adorned  with  the  richest  paintings  and 
sculptures,  and  with  a  spire  of  540  feet,  28  feet 
higher  than  the  famous  Cologne  Cathedral. 

In  the  Reformation  two  typical  leaders  were  at 
the  helm.  One  of  these  was  Luther,  the  other 
Zwingli,  and  later,  Calvin.  Luther,  as  the  larger 
personality,  the  more  eminent  Christian,  and  the 
more  intensely  human  and  genial,  naturally  favored 
Art.  He  had  a  poetic  soul,  and  a  mystical  devo- 
tion, which  interpreted  the  divine  and  infinite,  in 
all  the  forms  of  nature  and  art.  Accordingly,  he 
writes  :  "  It  is  not  my  opinion  that  the  arts  are  to 
be  destroyed  by  means  of  the  Gospel,  as  some 
super-spiritualists  [Zwingli,  Carlstadt,  etc.]  give 
out,  but  I  should  like  to  see  all  the  arts  enlisted 
in  the  service  of  Him  who  has  given  and  created 
them."*  On  the  specific  point  as  to  the  repre- 
sentation of  Christ  in  the  Church,  which  was  in 
dispute  between  the  Lutheran  and  the  Reformed 
Churches,  Luther  makes  this  striking  argument : 
"The  Scripture  has  pictures.  Hence  I  may  for 
the  sake  of  memory  and  a  better  understanding, 
paint  them  on  the  wall.  In  like  manner,  when  I 
contemplate  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  there  projects 
itself  in  my  heart  the  picture  of  a  man  hanging 

♦Luthardt's  Moral  Truths  of  Christianity,  p.  391. 


169 

upon  the  cross.  Now,  if  it  is  no  sin  that  I  have 
the  picture  in  my  heart,  why  shoiild  it  be  a  sin  if 
I  have  it  iiithe  eye,  especially  when  the  heart  is  of 
more  importance  than  the  eye  ?  "  This  fine  answer, 
says  Dr.  Dorner,  "decides  the  relation  of  [Luth- 
eran] Protestantism  to  Art.  The  poetic,  genial, 
and  ideal  feeling  of  Luther  will  as  little  dispense 
with  the  divine  gift  of  painting  as  music,  but  will 
rather  see  them  employed  in  the  interest  of 
religion."*  Never  had  a  man  a  greater  tempta- 
tion to  go  to  an  extreme.  Zwingli,  Carlstadt,  and 
the  Reformed,  cried  out  that  these  artistic  devices 
were  Romish,  and  the  paintings  were  torn  from 
the  walls,  and  the  crosses  broken  on  the  altars. 
But  Luther,  with  true  wisdom,  refused  to  argue 
from  the  abuse  of  a  good  principle  against  its 
proper  use.  In  indignant  protest  he  denounced 
these  fanatical  extremists,  in  a  series  of  sermons 
of  burning  eloquence  and  power.  And  he 
judiciously  selected  the  golden  mean. 

While  Zwingli  thus  wished  to  do  away  with 
organ  playing,  instrumental  music,  etc.,  and  Calvin 
would  not  tolerate  altars,  crosses,  and  candles,  in 
the  Churches,  a  wise  moderation  prevailed  in  the 
Lutheran   Church.     The   principles   of  the  great 

•History  of  Protestant  Theology,  Vol.  I,  p.  146. 


i7o 

founder  of  Protestantism  passed  over  to  the 
Church  called  after  his  name.  "In  Romish  wor- 
ship all  appealed  to  the  senses,  and  in  that  of  the 
Calvinistic  Churches  all  appealed  to  the  under- 
standing; but  in  the  Lutheran  worship  both  sides 
of  human  nature  were  fully  recognized,  and  a 
proportionate  place  assigned  to  each.  Altars 
ornamented  with  candles  and  crosses  were  allowed 
to  remain,  not  as  objects  of  worship,  but  rather 
to  aid  in  exciting  and  deepening  devotion."* 

This  employment  of  sacred  art  in  the  building 
of  Churches,  and  in  their  interior  and  altar 
appointments  and  decorations,  has  accordingly 
become  characteristic  of  Lutheran,  as  contrasted 
with  Calvinistic  and  Reformed  Churches  all  over 
the   world.f     The   only  exception   is  that  of  the 

*Church  History,  Kurtz,  Vol.  II,  p.  364. 

f"The  Lutheran  Church  designates  different  colors  for  the 
different  seasons  of  the  year,  so  that  the  Church's  joy  or  sorrow 
may  be  taught  by  the  eye  as  well  as  by  the  ear.  These  various 
colors,  used  in  the  several  services  of  the  Church,  are  all  symbolical 
and  add  solemnity  to  the  devout  worship  of  Almighty  God  in  His 
house.  White  is  a  symbol  of  purity,  joy,  life,  and  light,  and  is  used 
on  the  Festivals  of  Christmas,  Easter,  and  the  Ascension  of  our 
Lord,  and  on  Whit-Sunday,  on  Trinity  Sunday,  and  on  the  dedica- 
tion of  a  Church.  Violet  or  Pitrple,  the  symbol  of  penitence  and 
sorrow,  is  used  during  Advent  and  Lent  Seasons,  and  at  funerals. 
Green,  the  symbol  of  hope  and  peace,  and  Red,  the  symbol  of  divine 
love  and  royal  dignity,  are  used  from  Trinity  Sunday  until  Advent. 
Black,  the  symbol  of  death,  is  used  on  Good  Friday." — The  Church 
Year,  Rev.  W.  H.  Gotwald,  D.D. 


i7i 

Episcopal  Church,  where  these  artistic  uses  were 
borrowed  from  the  Lutheran,  and  not  borrowed 
by  us  from  the  Episcopal,  as  is  sometimes  supposed 
by  the  misinformed.  Their  Lutheran  origin  is 
fully  admitted  by  the  distinguished  Episcopal 
scholar.  Dean  Stanley.  Speaking  of  the  changes 
which  occurred  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time,  he 
writes:  "The  Lutheran  element  remained  too 
strongly  fixed  to  be  altogether  dislodged.  Luth- 
eranism  was,  in  fact,  the  exact  shade  which  colored 
the  mind  of  Elizabeth,  and  of  the  divines  who 
held  to  her.  Her  altar  was  the  LzUheran  altar."'^' 
*Tn  her  doctrine  Elizabeth  was  a  moderate 
Lutheran."f 

Dr.  Schaff  not  only  admits  this  distinction  of 
sacred  art  as  belonging  to  the  Lutheran,  as  over 
acrainst  the  other  Protestant  Churches,  but  really 
accords  it  the  superiority,  thus:  "  Lutheranism 
draws  the  fine  arts  into  the  service  of  religion. 
The  Reformed  communion  is  much  poorer  in  this 
respect.  It  aimed  at  the  greatest  simplicity  in 
relio-ion,  which  in  Presbyterianism  and  Puritanism 
is  certainly  carried  to  excess.  Mrs.  Beecher 
Stowe,  though  herself  a  Puritan,  in  describing  the 
wondrous    beauties    of    nature    in     Switzerland, 

♦Christian  Institutions,  p.  89. 

fOutlinesof  Universal  History,  Prof.  Fisher,  Yale  College,  p.  43. 


172 

makes  the  significant  remark :  '  One  thing  is  cer- 
tain :  He  who  made  the  world  is  no  utiHtarian,  no 
despiser  of  the  fine  arts,  and  no  condemner  of 
ornament,  and  those  religionists,  who  seek  to 
restrain  everything  within  the  limits  of  cold,  bare 
utility,  do  not  imitate  our  Father  in  heaven.  The 
instinct  to  adorn  and  beautify  is  from  Him ;  it 
likens  us  to  Him,  and  if  rightly  understood, 
instead  of  being  a  siren  to  beguile  our  hearts 
away,  it  will  be  the  closest  of  affiliating  bands.'  "* 
In  America,  the  financial  weakness  of  many  of 
our  struggling  Churches,  the  absence  of  wealth, 
with  its  attendant  opportunity  for  culture,  and 
still  more,  the  prevalence  for  so  long  a  period  of 
extreme  Calvinistic  and  Puritanic  conceptions  of 

*Lutheranism  and  Reform,  Schaff,  p.  175. 

While  the  whole  history  of  the  Lutheran  Church  thus  shows  her 
distinctive  attitude  and  practice,  as  appreciative  of  the  positive 
uses  and  benefits  of  sacred  art,  and  while  the  advocacy  of  these 
principles  is  especially  needed  at  this  time  to  counteract  prevalent 
prejudices,  yet  the  Lutheran  Church  would  none  the  less  protest 
against  making  them  essential  and  binding  upon  the  conscience. 
Sacred  Art,  however  important,  still  rests  upon  the  grounds  of  ex- 
pediency, and  as  such,  belongs  to  the  sphere  of  liberty.  Hence  the 
Lutheran  Observer  is  quite  correct  in  this  editorial:  "However, 
the  whole  matter  of  Church  decoration  with  Christian  symbols  and 
other  works  of  art,  within  appropriate  limits,  belongs  to  the  adia- 
pkora,  or  things  indifferent  and  non-essential,  and  these  are  free  to 
be  used  or  not,  according  to  the  taste  or  preference  of  cong^ega- 
tions,  so  far  as  not  forbidden  in  the  Scriptures." 


173 

worship,  moulding  and  tincturing  religious  thought 
in  all  communions,  have  to  the  present  time,  pre- 
vented the  Lutheran  Church  from  assuming  her 
true  place  with  respect  to  the  use  of  sacred  art.  It 
is,  as  Dr.  Wolf  truly  remarks  in  his  review  of  Dr. 
Schaff's  Church  History  in  the  Lutheran  Quar- 
terly, January  1893  :  "One  of  the  most  instructive 
features  of  this  volume  is  its  disclosure  of  the 
truth  that  almost  all  those  things  against  which 
Lutherans  have  to  battle  incessantly  within  their 
own  Church,  are  importations  from  the  Churches 
of  Zwingli  and  Calvin.  The  Puritans  brought 
with  them  to  this  country  the  favorite  ideas  and 
practices  of  these  Reformers  so  far  as  they 
antagonized  the  Lutheran  Reformers,  and  when 
our  feeble  English  Churches  were  struggling  for 
existence,  they  somehow  fell  into  the  ways  of 
Calvinism — probably  because  their  pastors  had 
received  their  training  from  Calvinist  schools  and 
Puritan  authors.  The  denial  of  quickening  grace 
in  Baptism,  of  the  Real  Presence  in  the  Eucharist, 
the  opposition  to  pictures  in  the  Churches,  to 
altars,  crosses,  candles,  clerical  robes,  etc.,  have 
come  to  us  from  either  Zwingli,  or  Calvin,  or 
both." 

The  ground  of  these    objections  is  laid  upon 
Romish  and  Ritualistic  abuses.     But  these  objec- 


174 

tions  would  on  the  same  ground  sweep  away  the 
essentials  of  Christianity.  The  Scriptures,  the  Sac- 
raments, the  Apostle's  Creed,  the  Festivals,  the  rite 
of  Confession,  the  authority  of  the  Church,  are  all 
similarly  abused  in  the  Romish  Church.  Dare  we, 
therefore,  reject  them?  Whatever  then  is  right,  and 
true,  and  useful  in  itself,  we  are  not  to  discard,because 
of  perversions  and  excesses,  but  we  are  to  use  so 
judiciously  as  to  avoid  and  reprove  those  abuses. 
So  with  Art,  as  related  to  Religion.  It  is 
natural,  sustained  by  Scripture  analogy,  employed 
by  Christ,  and  an  invaluable  aid  to  devotion.  It 
is  Christian,  having  characterized  the  entire  his- 
tory of  the  Christian  Church.  Moreover,  it  is 
specifically  Lutheran,  distinguishing  the  Lutheran 
from  all  the  Reformed  Churches  in  this  regard. 
Now,  the  question  for  us,  as  Lutherans,  here  in 
America,  is  this.  Will  we,  as  we  sometimes  here- 
tofore have  done,  join  our  ecclesiastical  opponents 
in  decrying  our  own  historic  usages?  If  so,  let 
us  remember,  that  "  A  house  divided  against  itself 
shall  not  stand"  (Matt,  xii ;  25).  Gur  Churches 
here  cannot  be  built  up  from  anti-Lutheran  ele- 
ments. We  may  discard  ever  so  much  to  please 
them ;  they  will  still  stay  in  their  own  native  and 
powerful  Churches.  But  our  Lutheran  sons  and 
daughters    have    been    used   to   a   well-defined 


175 

ecclesiastical  art  from  whatever  part  of  our  world- 
wide Church  they  have  come.  They  bring  these 
fond  and  sacred  associations  with  them,  and  if  we 
will  reject  Lutheran  Churches  and  altars,  and 
other  Churches  will  adopt  them,  we  can  only 
expect  that  they  will  go  where  they  feel  at  home. 
And  then  that  irony  of  American  history  will 
repeat  itself,  that,  when  other  Churches  have 
drawn  the  intelligent  and  cultured  by  the  use  of 
our  Lutheran  customs,  and  have  grown  powerful 
thereby,  we  will  timidly  begin  to  dare  to  use 
them  ourselves.  And  then  the  objection  will  be 
raised  that  we  are  borrowing  the  customs  of  others. 
Why  not  be  the  first  ourselves  to  use  our  own 
precious  historic  treasures,  and  then  when  others 
want  them,  compel  them  to  be  the  borrowers? 
How  far  better  thus  to  evince  a  manly  self-respect 
and  courage!  And  instead  of  apologizing  for,  or 
rejecting  our  Lutheran  heritage,  let  us  boldly  es- 
pouse it,  and  proudly  hold  it  up  to  the  world  as 
without  a  peer.  Christendom  will  only  respect  the 
Church  which  first  respects  itself.  The  Lutheran 
Church  with  regard  to  Sacred  Art,  like  so  many 
other  things,  has  nothing  to  be  ashamed  of.  On 
the  contrary,  her  history  here  shows  her  to  be  in 
harmony  with  primitive  usage,  with  Scripture,  and 
with  the  most  cultured  minds  and  gifted  souls  of  the 


176 

human  race.  Of  no  Lutheran  feature  can  we  have  a 
juster  pride,  none  is  in  closer  touch  with  the  trend 
of  modern  thougfht,  nor  is  there  one  that  will 
more  recommend  her  as  the  Church  worthy  to  be 
a  leader  of  the  Church  Universal.  Her  motto  is: 
"  In  Christianity,  pictorial  and  sculptured  repre- 
sentations, are  language  made  visible,  symbolized 
thought,"*  divine  lessons  presented  through  the 
eye,  which  God  has  made  an  organ  for  the  recep- 
tion of  truth  as  well  as  the  ear. 

Lutheran  Churches  are  sanctuaries  where  on 
every  side  religion  breathes,  sacred  visions  hold 
the  eye,  whispers  of  the  divine  reach  the  soul,  and 
the  footseps  of  God  grow  audible.  The  Lutheran 
altarf  is  a  veritable  Holy  of  Holies,  a  staircase  to 
the  invisible,  an  arcanum,  where  the  soul  com- 
munes with  the  glorified  Savior,  and  bathes  in 
the  light  of  infinite  love.  In  the  Lutheran 
Sanctuary,  Art  uses  her  every  gift  to  make 
audible  and  visible  the  truths  of  Christianity,  and 
to  invest,  with  a  rich  and  sacred  halo,  the  senti- 
ment of  Religion. 

*Fundamental  Truths  of  Christianity,  Luthardt,  p.  148. 

f  The  Lutheran  Church  is  the  only  Protestant  Church  which 
strictly  has  an  Altar,  and  uses  that  term  in  her  formularies  of  wor- 
ship. In  the  Episcopal  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  the  word  "Altar" 
was  stricken  out  by  the  Calvinistic  revisers,  and  "Communion 
Table"  substituted. 


177 

As  an  Instructive   illustration  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  Lutheran  Church,  in  its  attitude  respect- 
ing Sacred    Art,  is  in  sympathy    with   the  best 
progressive  tendencies  of  the  age,  we  append  to 
this  chapter  the  following  extract  from  a  valuable 
paper  on  this  theme,  which  recently  appeared  in 
that  widely  circulated  religious  pubHcation,  "  The 
Homiletic   Revieu> :''    "The    conclusion   of  these 
phases  of  the    whole  subject  is,  that   paintings, 
pictures,  reproductions  of  the  pathos  and  power 
of  many  of  them,  have  been  positive  means  of 
Christian  education,    thorough    conversions,  and 
the  perseverance  In  saintliness  of  the  persons  thus 
converted.     Savanarola,  in  the  cloisters  and  cells 
of  his  convent,  was  deeply  moved  by  the  paint- 
ings of  Angelico,  whose  art  was  worship  and  for 
the  advancement  of  the  Church.    Zinzendorf,  the 
founder  of  the  first  Protestant  missionary  Church, 
was  converted  by  contemplating  a  picture  of  the 
crucifixion,  which  bore  the  inscription: 

'  I  did  this  for  thee  ; 

What  hast  thou  done  for  me?  ' 

If  there  has  been  one  offering  on  the  altar  of  the 
Lord,  which  has  has  been  devotional  in  aim  and 
spirit  equal  to  sacred  music  and  poetry,  it  is  sacred 
pictorial  art.  The  Bible  and  the  Christ  have  been 
reproduced  in  this  form  according   to    the    gifts 


I7S 

bestowed  by  nature  and  by  grace.  Such  portrai- 
ture has  been  given,  and  the  objections  to  it  are 
similar  to  the  objections  to  written  Hves  of  Christ 
by  Farrar  and  Edersheim,  Geikie  and  Beecher, 
and  to  the  sermons  of  the  best  preachers,  and 
even  to  the  records  of  the  evangeHsts  themselves. 
Protestantism  in  this  particular  has  been  wrong 
and  Puritanism  too.  The  reaction  has  been  from 
one  extreme  to  the  other.  There  has  been  little 
attempt  to  gain  and  keep  the  golden  mean."* 

♦New  York,  May,  1893. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


LUTHERAN    UNITY. 


WHEN  our  Lord  prayed  that  all  His  disciples 
might  be  one,  he  evidently  had  two  ideas 
chiefly  in  view,  viz.  spirituality  and  efficiency. 
For  brotherly  unity  is  necessary  to  piety.  Where 
division,  distraction,  and  strife  prevail,  there  can- 
not be  the  sweet  and  peaceful  spirit  of  Christ. 
And  so  efficiency  in  Christian  work  depends  upon 
unity.  As  an  army  torn  and  sundered  by  internal 
dissensions  can  accomplish  nothing  against  the 
foe,  so  a  Church  rent  by  differences  and  contro- 
versy within  its  own  borders,  can  do  very  little 
effective  work  for  Christ.  On  this  account,  the 
various  denominations  have  their  separate  con- 
fessions and  usages,  in  order  that  those  who  are  of 
one  mind  can  work  together  in  undisturbed 
harmony. 


i8o 

Now  the  Lutheran  Church  encounters  excep- 
tional difficulties  in  seeking  to  attain  this  unity. 
Its  very  strength  is  here  a  source  of  weakness. 
As  it  is  so  widely  distributed  throughout  the 
various  nationalities  and  languages  of  the  globe, 
the  problem  becomes  the  more  difficult  to  fuse  all 
these  types  into  one  American  Lutheran  Church. 
Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  there  are  several  power- 
ful conditions  tending  to  facilitate  this  unity.  One 
is  the  personality  of  Luther,  which  is  so  predomi- 
nant and  overshadowing  among  all  Lutherans,  as 
to  be  a  perpetual  force  moulding  them  alike,  and 
so  drawing  them  together.  Another,  is  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Lutheran  Church  that  unity  does  not 
depend  upon  secondary  points,  such  as  identity 
of  Church  government,  or  of  rites  and  ceremonies. 
Differences  on  these  adiaphora  are  no  reason, 
therefore,  to  hinder  true  and  hearty  Lutheran 
unity.  These  must  be  regarded  with  mutual 
tolerance  and  charity.  But  even  here  Lutheran 
worship  everywhere  has  been  controlled  by  the 
type  of  Luther's  Reformation  Service,  so  that  an 
essential  historical  unity  of  public  worship  char- 
acterizes Lutherans  of  all  lands,  drawing  them 
together  as  one  spiritual  family. 

Another  impulse  toward  Lutheran  unity  comes 
from  the  singular  pre-eminence  of  the  Augsburg 


I8l 


Confession.  No  other  Church  has  any  one  sum- 
mary of  faith  enjoying  such  a  unique  and  universal 
authority  over  all  its  various  branches,  as  does 
this  venerable  symbol.  Not  a  solitary  body  of 
Lutherans  rejects  it.  Nor  does  any  one  propose 
its  revision.  Wherever  there  has  been  individual 
opposition  to  it,  such  opposition  has  been  com- 
pelled to  succumb  to  the  overwhelming  sentiment 
in  its  favor.  "As  various  kingdoms,  states,  and 
cities,  embraced  the  faith  of  God's  word,  as  our 
Church  had  enfolded  it,  they  accepted  this  Con- 
fession as  their  own,  and  were  known  as  Evan- 
gelical Lutherans  because  they  so  accepted  it. 
The  Church  was  known  as  the  Church  of  the 
Augsburg  Confession.  *  *  *  It  is  our  shield  and 
our  sword,  our  ensign  and  our  arming,  the  con- 
stitution of  our  state.  It  is  the  bond  of  our  tcnion 
throughout  the  tvorld,  and  by  it,  and  with  it,  our 
Church  as  a  distinct  organization,  must  stand  or 
fall."* 

The  idea  is  sometimes  entertained,  that  a 
serious  difference  exists  among  Lutherans  on  the 
ground  that  some  subscribe  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession, and  others  t\\^.  Form  of  Concord.  But 
this  is  a  mistake.    Those  who  in  addition  subscribe 

*Conservative  Reformation,  Krauth,  pp.  262  and  214. 


l82 

to  the  later  symbols  do  not  do  so  in  any  spirit 
of  antagonism  to  the  Augsburg  Confession,  but 
only  because  they  deem  the  latter  a  consistent 
explanation  and  development  of  the  Augsburg 
Confession,  so  that  their  subscription  to  them  only 
more  firmly  seals  their  subscription  to  the 
Augustana.  Thus  says  one  whose  general  body 
demands,  not  of  laymen,  but  of  pastors  and 
teachers,  subscription  to  the  Form  of  Concord  : 
"Those  who  sincerely  adopt  the  Confession 
of  Augsburg  and  the  Catechism,  are  in  accord 
with  us.  Our  controversy  with  those  who 
reject  a  portion  of  the  Confession,  has  its  ground 
in  the  conviction  that  such  rejection  betrays  a 
dissent  from  the  Evangelical  doctrine  set  forth  in 
the  Augsburg  Confession,  whose  true  import  and 
meaning  the  later  symbols  develop  and  defend."* 
He,  then,  who  heartily  receives  the  Augsburg 
Confession,  in  the  sense  in  which  our  Church  has 
always  received  it,  is  a  LtUheran,  and  no  one 
dare  gainsay  his  Lutheranism.  Just  as  un- Lutheran, 
are  extra  and  supra-confessional  tests  and  con- 
ditions, as  is  an  infra-confessional  laxity. 

As  therefore,  the  Augsburg  Confession  is  thus 
generally  and  heartily  accepted  by   Lutherans, 

*Prof.  M.  Loy,  D.D.,  of  Joint  Synod  of  Ohio. 


i83 

there  is  more  true  tuiity  and  agreement  iii  faith  and 
spirit  a7nong  Lutherans  than  in  any  other  Christian 
body  in  the  zuorld.  Writes  one  of  our  divines  of  this 
theological  unity:  "As  we  have  reason  to  know, 
the  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence  is  now  taught 
in  all  Lutheran  theological  seminaries  in  this 
country,  and  is  held  by  the  vast  majority  of  the 
Lutheran  pastors.  *  *  *  And  as  Luther's  Small 
Catechism,  in  its  pure  text,  is  used  almost  uni- 
versally in  Lutheran  congregations  as  a  manual 
of  instruction,  the  doctrine  is  taught  to  the  young 
people  who  are  in  preparation  for  the  duties  and 
benefits  of  Church  membership."*  Consequently, 
it  is  a  matter  of  certainty,  that  a  number  of 
Lutherans  assembled  together  from  the  wide- 
spread branches  of  Lutheranism  throughout  the 
world,  could  draw  up  a  set  of  articles  of  common 
doctrinal  agreement,  and  would  find  themselves  in 
a  harmony  of  spirit,  such  as  could  no  other  Church. 
A  remarkable  illustration  of  this  truth  is  given  in 
the  volume  that  has  lately  appeared  :  "  Distinctive 
Doctrines  and  Usages  of  the  General  Bodies  of 
the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  the  United 
States."t  Nine  of  the  foremost  theologians  there 
speak  for  the  bodies  they  represent,  comprising 

♦Rev.  J.  W.  Richard,  D.D. 

tLutheran  Board  of  Publication,  1424  Arch  St.,  Philadelphia. 


i84 

nearly  all  our  Lutheran  communicants  in  the 
United  States.  And  when  we  consider  the 
amount  of  doctrinal  divergence  and  looseness 
prevalent  in  the  other  denominations  in  our  land, 
the  positive  hold  upon  the  great  Scriptural  truths, 
and  the  close  general  doctrinal  concurrence  exhib- 
ited in  this  volume,  constitute  the  religious  phenom- 
enon of  the  times.  All  these  representative  Lutheran 
theologians  agree  :  a.ln  making  the  Word  of  God 
the  supreme  and  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and 
practice,  "while  the  symbols  [confessions]  are 
not  considered  like  the  Scriptures,  as  judges,  but 
as  a  witness  and  declaration  of  the  faith."*  d.  All 
accept  the  Augsburg  Confession,  without  reser- 
vation, as,  from  beginning  to  end,  "a  correct 
exhibition  of  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
divine  word  and  of  the  faith  of  our  Church, "f 
and  "recognize  the  fact  that  the  Evangelical 
Lutheran  Church  had  her  settled  faith,  and  her 
distinctive  character,  when  she  witnessed  her 
good  confession  at  Augsburg,  in  1530." J  "The 
question  as  to  whether  one  be  a  Lutheran  or 
not,  the  General  Council  affirms,  must  be 
decided  from  his  relation  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  unaltered   Augsburg  Confession,  and  from 

*Prof.  S.  Fritschel,  D.D.,  p.  65. 

tProf.  M.  Valentine,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  p.  41. 

JProf.  M.  Loy,  D.D.,  p.  9. 


i85 

no  other  standard  whatever."*  c.  All  are  one  in 
the  point  that  Christian  unity  is  a  matter  primarily 
of  agreement  in  the  faith,  and  that  rites  and 
ceremonies,  forms  of  worship,  systems  of  Church 
government,  etc.,  are  secondary,  and  belong  to 
the  adiaphora  (things  indifferent).  "Christians 
may  differ,  and  in  many  cases,  owing  to  different 
circumstances,  must  differ  as  to  ceremonies, 
external  organization,  etc.  But  there  is  one  thing 
concerning  which  all  Christians  of  all  times  and 
of  all  countries  should  perfectly  agree — they 
should  be  one  in  faith  and  doctriner'^  d.  And 
every  one  of  these  writers,  while  "never  failing 
to  distinguish  between  that  which  is  necessary 
and  that  which  is  free,"  yet  "love  the  old  ways  of 
our  fathers,  and  the  beautiful  forms  in  which  they 
worshiped  the  Lord."  All  "  recognize  the  benefits 
of  uniformity  in  the  ceremonies  and  usages  of  the 
Churches,  and  heartily  seek  to  promote  it."  All 
"desire,  even  in  externals,  to  walk  in  the  old 
paths  and  manifest  their  historical  connection  with 
the  old  Church. "J 

Such  a  unanimity  of  sentiment — every  writer, 
from    what   is    generally    considered    the    most 

♦Prof.  H.  E.  Jacobs,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  p.  57. 
fProf.  F.  Pieper,  p.  137. 
JProf.  M.  Loy,  D.D.,  p.  10. 


1 86 

moderate,  the  General  Synod,  to  that  which  is 
commonly  looked  on  as  most  extreme,  the 
Synodical  Conference,  endorsing  absolutely  the 
one  great  Augsburg  Confession  in  all  its  teach- 
ings, covering  the  whole  main  system  of  Scriptural 
doctrine — is  a  fact  without  parallel  in  any  other 
denomination.  No  approach  to  such  concurrence 
could  be  shown  elsewhere.  The  bare  thought  of 
it  would  be  considered  utterly  chimerical.  '"As  to 
the  substance  of  what  is  known  as  Lutheran  all 
the  writers  agree.  All  accept  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession as  the  oriofinal  and  true  confession  of 
Lutheran  doctrine,  and  consent  that  whoever 
heartily  accepts  the  doctrinal  statements  of  this 
Confession  is  a  Lutheran,  not  in  name,  but  in 
fact."*  The  evidences,  then,  in  this  remarkable 
series  of  papers,  of  essential  unity  on  the  part  of 
the  various  Lutheran  bodies  of  the  United  States, 
is  one  that  should  fill  every  Lutheran  heart  with 
encouragement,  while  it  should  attract  the 
thoughtful  attention  and  study  of  other  bodies  of 
Christians. 

As  a  consequence  of  this  fundamental  unity, 
the  Lutheran  Church  is  the  only  branch  of 
Protestantism  that  has  never  generated  sects, 
not  a  single  one  having  sprung  from   her,  while 

*  The  Luthtran  World. 


1 87 

the  other  wing  of  Protestantism  has  unfortunately 
had  a  multitudinous  progeny  of  this  character. 
In  a  recent  editorial,  "A  Marvel  in  History," 
the  Eastern  Lutheran  utters  these  indisputable 
words:  "There  has  been  no  schism  in  the 
Lutheran  Church  from  the  beginning.  There 
have  been  differences  in  language,  and  customs, 
and  modes  of  worship,  but  there  is  only  one 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  the  world  to-day. 
While  the  Lutheran  half  of  Protestantism  has  come 
down  unbroken  through  the  centuries,  the  other  half 
— the  Reformed  half — has  been  broken  into  frae- 
ments,  and  comprises  all  the  other  denominations 
of  Christendom.  It  is  reported  that  the  census- 
takers  found  150  denominations,  or  sub-divisions 
of  denominations,  in  this  country,  in  1890.  The 
Lutheran  Church  is  not  responsible  for  the 
divisions  of  Protestantism.  If  the  Augsburg  Con- 
fession had  been  accepted  by  all  in  1530,  there 
might  have  been  a  unity  of  the  Protestant  Church 
to-day,  as  there  is  a  unity  of  Catholicism.  The 
fact  that  the  Reformed  part  has  broken  into  so 
many  fragments,  shows  the  weakness  of  its 
ecclesiastical  platform.  That  the  Lutherans  have 
remained  united  for  over  three  and  a  half  centu- 
ries is  a  marvel,  and  it  shows  the  strength  of 
their  ecclesiastical  foundation." 


i88 

These  being  the  facts,  there  exists  no  sound 
excuse  for  our  divisions  in  America.  And  as  Dr. 
Jacobs  truly  says  :  "  The  problem  of  the  hoiir  for  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  America,  is,  how  to  unite 
these  various  elements  in  the  historical  faith  of 
the  Lutheran  Church,  as  embodied  in  her  histori- 
cal confessions,  and  with  the  worship  prescribed 
in  her  historical  Liturgies  and  Church  Orders."* 
The  two  greatest  foes  to  this  auspicious  result 
are  the  extremists.  The  one,  the  party  who 
would  insist  on  extra-confessional  and  unhistorical 
tests.  And  the  other,  who  are  more  eager  to 
unite  and  fellowship  with  non- Lutherans  than 
with  those  of  their  own  household.  Putting  aside 
both  these  supra-  and  infra- Lutherans,  why  should 
not  the  Lutheran  Church  in  this  country  be  one? 

In  the  Providence  of  God,  despite  all  her  mis- 
takes and  losses,  she  has  now  attained  a  com- 
manding position  here  both  theologically  and 
numerically.  She  is  known  and  recognized  as  one 
of  the  foremost  ecclesiastical  bodies  of  the  land. 
But  this  lack  of  unity,  and  these  contending 
General  Bodies,  with  the  synods  and  congrega- 
tions maintaining  an  independent  attitude,  are 
our  greatest  element  of  weakness,  and  the  chief 

•Preface  to  "The  Lutheran  Movement  in  England,"  p.  8. 


1 89 

obstacle  in  the  path  of  our  growth,  success,  and 
influence.  Our  sorest  need  is,  as  the  patriarch 
Muhlenberg  said :  "  Unity — a  twisted  cord  of 
many  threads  will  not  break."  God  has  laid 
upon  us  a  weighty  responsibility,  as  he  has  also 
given  us  an  unrivalled  opportunity  in  this  Western 
World.  And,  bound  together  by  such  strong  and 
close  ties  of  faith,  usage  and  history,  what  we 
need  above  all  thinofs  is  to  be  one. 

And  to  effect  this  we  should  not  misrepresent 
our  Lutheran  brethern,  of  any  branch  or  synodi- 
cal  connection  of  our  Church,  not  seek  to  fan 
prejudices  against  them,  and  especially  not  take 
up  the  inuendoes  and  perversions  of  other  de- 
nominations, and  hurl  them  at  those  of  our  own 
faith  and  name.  And  by  mutual  charity,  tolerance, 
sympathy,  and  good-will,  we  can  come  together, 
and  work  together,  and  march  under  the  same 
banner,  as  one  great,  undivided  Lutheran  host, 
in  this  Western  World.  As  indicative  of  the 
tendency  at  present  prevailing,  the  Independent 
some  time  ago  had  a  colloquium  of  representative 
writers,  on  Lutheran  Unity,  in  which  Dr.  Valen- 
tine for  the  General  Synod,  says :  "Is  the  sugges- 
tion practicable  ?  It  ought  to  be.  For  these  differ- 
ent bodies  are  all  Lutheran  bodies,  the  differences 
in  their  confessional  basis  being  no  greater  than 


I90 

have  always  existed  within  the  Lutheran  Church. 
The  points  in  disagreement,  causing  the  divisions, 
do  not  belong  to  essentials.  It  were  absurd  for 
any  one  of  these  bodies  to  claim  that  its  title  to 
Lutheranism  consists  in  the  things  in  which  it 
differs  from  all  the  other  bodies.  Its  Lutheranism 
is  made,  not  by  the  peculiarities  in  which  it  sepa- 
rates from  all  the  rest,  but  by  the  truth  and 
Church  life  which  it  maintains  in  common  with 
them,  the  essential  Lutheran  system  of  doctrine." 
Dr.  Jacobs,  for  the  General  Council,  writes  :  "The 
Lutheran  Church  humbly  claims  to  stand  for  the 
very  widest  basis  possible  for  Christian  union. 
Three  centuries  have  passed,  and  the  representa- 
tives of  the  various  European  Lutheran  Churches 
are  meeting  in  America.  They  have  not  come  at 
once,  but  in  successive  waves  of  emigration,  so 
that  before  one  is  organized  and  Americanized, 
it  is  overwhelmed  by  new  accessions,  among 
whom  the  same  process  is  to  be  repeated.  Who 
can  be  surprised  that  all  are  not  united  into  one 
compact,  homogeneous  and  well-organized  gen- 
eral body?  Has  not  much  been  gained,  in  the 
course  of  the  last  generation,  that  of  2,437,706 
communicants,  1,382,568  have  been  gathered 
into  three  general  organizations?"  Prof. 
Pieper,  speaking  for  the  Synodical  Conference, 


191 

after  remarkinof  various  advances  toward  unifica- 
tion,  says :  "  Still,  there  is  a  bad  residue  of 
divisions  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  causing  a  great 
waste  both  of  men  and  money.  The  gain  to  the 
Lutheran  Church  would  be  enormous  if  a  perfect 
consolidation  in  the  Lutheran  families  could  be 
effected.  But  how  could  this  be  done?  The 
Lutheran  Church  has  no  peculiar  ecclesiastical 
system  nor  any  special  rites  to  insist  upon.  All 
these  things  she  classes  with  the  'adiaphora.' 
But  the  great  stress  is  laid  upon  harmony  in  the 
Biblical  doctrine.  It  was  on  this  line  of  proceed- 
ing that  practical  results  toward  consolidation 
were  obtained  in  the  Lutheran  Church.  On  this 
principle  the  Michigan  Synod  last  year  united 
with  the  Synodical  Conference.  Lately  so-called 
"Free  Conferences"  were  held  between  members 
of  the  Synodical  Conference  and  other  Lutheran 
bodies  with  the  same  object  in  view.  Thus  a 
campaign  for  consolidation  is  carried  on." 

Certainly,  these  are  notable  signs  of  the  times. 
How  much  greater  is  the  Lutheran  unity  pre- 
vailing now  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  and 
it  is  growing  more  and  more  every  year.  Instead 
of  a  dozen  parties,  each  nursing  its  own  narrow, 
little,  one-sided,  Lutheran  phase,  one  supreme 
historical    Lutheran  ideal — the   world-wide  type 


192 

— is  gradually  shaping  all  parties  in  accordance 
with  it.  And  this  is  surely  bringing  all  together. 
Lutheran  unity  is  in  the  air!  Nor  can  any  petty, 
partisan  narrowness  withstand  its  advance.  Let 
all  join  in  the  fervent  hope  expressed  by  Bishop 
von  Scheele,  during  his  visit  among  us,  "that  our 
great  Church,  in  this  country,  might  be  united  on 
the  basis  of  the  Augsburg  Confession."  Speed 
the  grand  consummation!  Let  every  minister 
and  every  layman,  instead  of  fomenting  strife, 
and  fanning  the  fire  of  prejudice,  pray  and  strive 
for  this  auspicious  end. 

And  with  a  united  Lutheran  Church  in  America, 
how  nobly  will  our  grand  ecclesiastical  mother 
take  the  leading  position  that  belongs  to  her,  how 
clearly  will  her  testimony  shine  forth  for  the 
Word  and  Sacraments,  and  what  effective  service 
can  she  render  for  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom 
of  God! 


CHAPTER  XX. 


ENGLISH    AND    FOREIGN-SPEAKING    LUTHERANS. 

THE  other  Protestant  Churches  in  the  United 
States  practically  come  from  but  one 
country,  viz.  Great  Britain,  and  hence  generally 
speak  the  English  language.  But  Lutherans, 
coming  from  all  the  countries  of  Europe,  pre- 
dominantly speak  foreign  tongues.  Prof.  Boyesen 
estimates  that  nearly  one-third  of  the  population 
of  New  York  City  is  German-speaking.  In 
Chicago  the  proportion  is  about  the  same.  The 
last  decade  brought  a  million  and  a  half  Germans 
to  our  shores.  The  great  North  West  is  filling 
up  with  Lutherans.  Wisconsin  alone  has  200,000 
German  voters.  There  are  more  than  one-third 
as  many  Norwegians  here  as  in  Norway.  One- 
half  the  population  of  Minnesota  is  Scandinavian. 
So  marvelous  has  been  our  foreign  growth  in  the 


194 

great  West  that  it  is  the  surprising  fact  that  there 
are  300  more  Lutheran  Churches  west  of  Chicago 
than  east  of  that  city,  and  80,000  more  communi- 
cants. As  a  result,  the  Lutheran  is  the  Church 
of  many  tongues  in  America. 

The  United  States  census  for  191 5  shows  that 
in  the  General  Synod  three  languages  are  used, 
English,  German  and  Swedish;  in  the  General 
Council,  four,  English,  German,  Swedish  and 
Slovak;  in  the  United  Synod  South,  two,  English 
and  German,  while  in  the  Svnodical  Conference 
no  less  than  fourteen  languages  appear,  promi- 
nent among  which  are  German,  Swedish,  Finnish, 
English,  Norwegian,  Danish  and  Polish.  Many 
congregations  are  German-English.  The  num- 
ber using  German  exclusively  is  about  twice  as 
large  as  those  exclusively  English.  Of  the  grand 
total  of  2,112,494  Lutheran  communicants  in 
1906  (the  latest  to  be  officially  reported),  i,754r 
355  used  foreign  tongues. 

This  shows  that  the  foreign-speaking  Luther- 
ans of  America  outnumber  the  purely  English- 
speaking,  in  the  proportion  of  4  to  i,  that  is,  about 
400,000  English  Lutherans,  as  against  2,000,000 
speaking  foreign  tongues.  With  them  the  Luth- 
eran is  one  of  the  largest  denominations  in  Amer- 
ica ;  without  them,  one  of  the  smallest.    Now,  the 


195 

problem  before  the  Lutheran  Church  is,  how  to 
effect  the  transition  of  these  foreign-speaking 
members  into  the  EngHsh-speaking  Churches. 
Upon  this,  it  is  self-evident,  depends  almost  our 
very  existence  in  the  future.  As  our  country  fills 
up  and  emigration  ceases,  the  foreign  languages 
will  inevitably  die,  and  with  them  will  also  dis- 
appear the  Churches  using  them.  Lutheranism 
can  only  then  survive  in  the  English  tongue.  And 
every  German,  Swede,  Norwegian,  Dane,  etc., 
who  is  a  true  Lutheran  in  heart,  must  desire 
before  all  else,  the  progress  and  welfare  of  the 
English  Lutheran  Church.  The  monument  to 
perpetuate  German  and  Scandinavian  religious 
life  and  character  in  this  country  can  never  be 
language,  it  can  alone  be  the  faith  and  spirit  of 
the  Lutheran  Church.  As  the  Swedish  Bishop 
von  Scheele  truly  said  in  his  address  to  the 
Swedish  students  of  Bethany  College,  Lindsburg, 
Kansas,  speaking  of  the  question  of  language : 
"  It  lies  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case  that  the 
rising  generation  should  be  taught  in  the  English 
language,  as  any  other  course  would,  in  America, 
be  abnormal,  since  English  is  the  language  of 
America." 

And   the    supreme  difficulty  that  our  English 
Lutheran  Church  encounters  here,  is  the  indiff- 


196 

erence,  and  often  apparent  antagonism,  of  our 
foreign-speaking  members  to  our  English 
Churches.  For  example,  the  Dutch  Reformed,  in 
point  of  numbers,  are  altogether  insignificant  in 
New  York  City,  as  compared  with  the  German. 
Yet  in  that  city,  the  Dutch  Reformed  have  many 
more  and  more  powerful  English  Churches  than 
the  Lutherans  have.  And  simply  because  the 
Dutch  were  willing  to  surrender  their  language 
in  order  to  save  their  Church.  Their  mother  faith 
was  dearer  to  thein  than  their  mother  tongue.  And 
until  Germans,  Swedes,  etc.,  will  rise  to  the  same 
high  standard,  and  illustrate  their  conviction  that 
a  Church  is  not  to  be  restricted  to  one  language, 
and  not  to  be  conditioned  at  all  by  language,  but  by 
faith,  the  progress  of  our  Church  in  this  country 
will  continue  to  be  arrested  by  this  rock  of 
stumbling.  "For  our  true  position  and  influence 
cannot  be  rightly  achieved  as  a  Church  of  an  alien 
tongue  or  of  alien  tongues.  However  interesting 
and  adapted  to  present  necessities  our  Church's 
polyglot  character  may  now  be,  the  attainment  of 
its  right  rank  and  influence  in  this  country 
requires  it  to  become  as  rapidly  as  possible  an 
English-speaking  Church."* 

*Prof.  M.  Valentine,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  in    "Distinctive   Lutheran 
Doctrines  and  Usages,"  p.  57. 


197 

And  yet  the  English  Churches  are  here  perhaps 
quite  as  much  to  blame  as  the  foreign  Lutheran 
element.  They  first  set  this  mistaken  example, 
that  a  change  of  language  meant  a  change  of 
Church.  When  they  would  establish  a  Church  in 
the  English  language,  too  often  they  did  not  seek 
to  make  it  a  Lutheran  Church,  but  in  the  process 
transformed  it  into  a  non-Lutheran  one.  Instead 
of  merely  changing  the  language,  they  changed 
the  faith  and  historic  usages.  Thus  in  our  early 
American  history  most  of  the  characteristics  of 
the  world-wide  Lutheran  Church  were  dropped, 
and  the  peculiarities  of  the  Puritan  andCalvinistic 
Churches — repugnant  to  the  broader,  deeper, 
richer  spirit  of  Lutheranism — were  adopted. 
The  beautiful  and  devotional  liturgical  service  and 
worship  of  Lutheranism  were  discarded,  and  the 
worship  framed  after  the  non- Lutheran  Churches. 
And  shall  we  wonder,  then,  that  when  the  foreign 
Lutheran  cannot  recognize  his  dear  religious 
home,  but  discerns  scarcely  any  difference  between 
it  and  the  non- Lutheran  Churches,  only  that  the 
latter  are  more  numerous  and  powerful,  more 
convenient  of  attendance,  and  offering  greater 
social  advantages,  he  should  too  often  allow 
his  children  to  go  to  them  without  a  protest? 
When    nothing    of  conscience,    or   of  home-Hke 


198 

ieeling  Is  to  be  gained,  why  make  any  sacrifice? 

Until,  then,  the  EngHsh  Churches  first  lead  the 
way  by  showing  that  a  change  of  language  does 
not  involve  an  abandonment  of  Lutheranism, 
they  cannot  ask  or  expect  foreign-speaking 
Lutherans  to  rally  to  their  support.  But  if  an 
English  Church  is  Lutheran,  if  it  is  faithful  to  the 
Lutheran  doctrine,  and  if  it  perpetuates  that 
worship  and  those  usages  to  which  the  Lutheran 
has  been  accustomed  in  his  native  land, 
then  when  the  foreign  Lutheran  enters  it,  he  will 
feel  at  home.  And  then,  the  bond  of  sacred 
traditions,  childhood-memories,  the  love  of  father- 
land, and  early  parental  instructions,  will  draw  him 
like  an  irresistible  magnet  to  his  own  ecclesiasti- 
cal altar. 

In  ignoring  language  then,  alike  by  American 
and  Foreigner,  and  making  the  Lutheran  element 
supreme,  alone  lies  the  solution  of  this  linguistic 
problem,  which  is  the  gravest  practical  one  before 
us,  dwarfing  all  others.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the 
question  naturally  arises :  Shall  we  not  have  a 
distinctively  American  Lutheran  Church  here.'* 
We  answer:  Certainly,  by  all  means.  In  every 
country  our  Church,  even  when  built  upon  the 
great  historic  outlines  of  Lutheranism,  will  more 
or  less  in  minor    matters,    be    moulded  by,  and 


199 

reflect  the  genius  and  institutions  of  the  land  and 
race.     It   must   have   the    quahty  of  adaptation, 
which  Lutheranism  has  shown  itself  to  possess  to 
a  remarkable  degree,  or  it  could  never  have  taken 
root  in  so  many  diverse  lands.     But  to  have  such 
minor  variations  is  one  thing— to  essentially  trans- 
form the  Lutheran    character    is    another.     The 
former  only  shows  the  flexibility  and  adaptedness 
of   Lutheranism    to    world-wide    conditions,  and 
illustrates  its  rightful  claim  to    universal  preva- 
lence.    The  latter  makes  the  Lutheran  Church  in 
one  country  a  protest  against  the  Lutheran  Church 
of  every    other  country,    and    so    works    for  its 
injury  and  destruction.     Some  Lutherans  in  their 
intense  Americanism  forget  that  nationality  has,  as 
such,   nothing  to  do  with  constituting  a  Church. 
Many  Churches,  thus,  are  Lutheran,  but  not  Ameri- 
can, such  as  the  Lutheran  Church  of  Sweden.  And 
many   Churches   again    are    American,    but    not 
Lutheran,    such    as    the     Presbyterian    Church. 
Faith  and  history,  not  nationality   or   language, 
constitute    the   distinctive  features  of  a  Church. 
Consequently,  in  order  to  be  a  Lutheran,  it  is  not 
necessary   to    be    a   German.    Swede,  Dane,    or 
Norwegian.     Nor,  in  order  to  be  an  American  is 
it  necessary  to  drop  Lutheran  historical  charac- 
teristics.    True  Lutheranism  and  true  American- 


200 


ism  make  the  ideal  combination  for  our  Church 
in  America. 

To  blend  all  our  foreign-speaking  elements  in 
one  great  English-speaking  American  Lutheran 
Church,  requires  then  the  disarmament  of  preju- 
dice on  both  sides.  English-speaking  Lutherans 
must  abandon  anti- Lutheran  prejudices  as  to 
religious  customs  and  usages,  which  they  have 
acquired  from  Calvinistic  associations,  and  must 
learn  to  judge  more  charitably,  and  with  warmer 
appreciation  of  their  foreign  Lutheran  brethren. 
And  foreign-speaking  Lutherans  must  abandon 
their  unreasonable  and  narrow  prejudice  that  the 
great  historic  Lutheran  Church  was  meant  to  be 
restricted  alone  to  their  particular  language, 
which  would  involve  its  inevitable  belittlement 
and  destruction.  And,  instead  of  disparaging 
criticism,  and  going  into  anti- Lutheran  Churches 
in  preference  to  those  of  their  own  faith,  they 
should  appreciate  the  sacrifices,  and  the  heroism 
displayed  by  pastors  and  laymen,  in  seeking  to 
upbuild  the  Lutheran  Church  in  the  English 
language. 

And  thus  all  yoke-fellows  of  the  Lutheran 
household  working  harmoniously  together,  with- 
out regard  to  linguistic  antecedents  and  preju- 
dices, this  vexatious  rock  of  offence  will  at  last 


20I 


be  removed.  And  there  will  result  a  distinctively 
American  Lutheran  Church.  A  Church  which, 
while  preserving  the  characteristic  faith  and 
customs  of  the  universal  Lutheran  Church,  yet  is 
in  harmony  with  American  spirit  and  life.  For, 
just  as  the  Lutheran  Church  in  Germany  has  a 
Germanic  type  that  is  not  of  its  essence,  and  in 
Scandinavia  has  a  type  resulting  from  the  Scandi- 
navian character,  so  will  and  must  it  be  eventually 
here.  The  Lutheran  Church,  not  in  its  foreign, 
but  in  an  American  phase,  moulded  in  non- 
essentials by,  and  harmonized  with  American 
institutions  and  character,  is  what  must  be  the 
final  resultant  on  our  shores. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE    LUTHERAN    A    WORLD-WIDE,    OR    TRULY 
CATHOLIC    CHURCH. 

THE  Lutheran  Church  is  not  only  the  oldest 
but  also  the  greatest  of  Protestant  Churches. 
Numerically,  she  far  outstrips  all  others.  In  her 
general  distribution,  too,  she  maintains  the  same 
pre-eminence.  The  most  distinctive  and  favorite 
term  of  the  Christian  Church  in  ancient  times 
was  Catholic,  i.  e.,  universal.  The  Jewish  and 
Pagan  religions  were  national.  That  is,  they 
were  particularistic,  narrowed  down  to  a  particular 
race  or  class.  There  was  one  religion  for  the  Jew 
and  another  for  the  Greek ;  one  for  the  freeman 
and  another  for  the  slave ;  one  for  the  aristocratic, 
and  another  for  the  menial  classes.  But  it  was 
the  distinguishing  glory  of  Christianity  that  it 
abolished  all  these  social  and    race   distinctions. 


203 

It  broke  down  the  barriers  that  separated  men 
into  antagonistic  parties.  The  Apostle  could 
boast:  "There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  there  is 
neither  bond  nor  free ;  for  ye  are  all  one  in 
Christ  Jesus"  (Gal.  iii ;  28).  That  is,  the  Christian 
is  the  one  universal,  or  Catholic  religion. 

Now  this  primal  condition  of  Christianity  is 
reproduced  alone  in  the  Evangelical  Lutheran 
Church.  It  is  the  Catholic,  among  the  Protestant 
Churches.  Its  distribution  is  literally  world-wide. 
While  the  greatest  of  the  other  Protestant 
denominations  is  the  Established  Church  in  but 
a  single  country,  the  Lutheran  is  the  Established 
or  National  Church  in  about  thirty-five  of  the 
governments  of  the  world.  Notable  among  these 
are  Prussia,*  Saxony,  Bavaria,  Hanover,  Meck- 
lenburg, WiJrtemberg,  Hamburg,  Alsace-Lorraine, 
Denmark,  Danish  West  Indies,  Sweden,  Norway, 
Faroe  Islands,  Finland,  Iceland,  etc.,  etc.  In 
other  countries,  as  in  Hungary,  the  Baltic 
Provinces  of  Russia,  Poland,  Lapland,  Holland, 
France,  Great  Britain,  and  the  United  States,  she 
has  a  very  large  part  of  the  Christian  membership. 
So,  over  Asia,  Africa  and  Oceanica — as  Australia, 
New  Zealand,  the  Fiji  Islands,  etc. — her  vast 
ecclesiastical  household  extends. 

♦Predominantly  Lutheran,  though  united  with  the  Reformed. 


204 

It  may  literally  be  said,  therefore,  that  there  is 
not  a  continent,  country,  or  island  of  the  sea, 
where  this  Mother  Church  of  Protestantism  does 
not  hold  up  the  cross  of  Jesus,  and  offer  the  bread 
and  water  of  life  to  the  souls  of  men.  "From 
the  rising  of  the  sun  unto  the  going  down 
thereof"  (Psalm  1,  i)  reaches  her  vast  dominion. 
The  Lutheran  Church,  too,  repeats  the  miracle 
of  Pentecost,  by  preaching  the  gospel  in  myriad 
languages.  She  is  the  polyglot  Church,  the 
Church  of  many  tongues.  In  this  world-wide 
communion  she  embraces  no  less  than  seventeen 
reigning  sovereigns,  and  a  membership  of  more 
than  seventy  millions. 

Mulhall,  in  his  great  work,  "Dictionary  of 
Statistics,"  gives  the  number  of  Protestants  in 
the  world  at  140,000,000,  and  Catholics  at  200,- 
000,000.  The  Protestants,  who  hold  far  the  most 
intelligent  peoples,  are  thus  tabulated: 

Episcopalians    21,000,000 

Methodists    17,000,000 

Baptists  1 1,000,000 

Presbyterians    9,000,000 

Congregationalists   4,500,000 

Other  Reformed  Bodies.  . .  .   8,000,000 

All  Reformed  Churches 70,500,000 

The  Lutheran  Church 70,169,727 


205 

Zockler  makes  the  number  of  Protestants  150,- 
000,000,  on  which  basis  the  Lutherans  would 
number  about  75,000,000.  Not  alone,  then,  is  the 
Lutheran  the  most  cosmopolitan  in  character,  but 
it  has  about  as  many  communicants  as  all  the 
other  Protestants  put  together.  Think  of  this 
vast  army  of  75,000,000  of  Christians  upholding 
the  Lutheran  banner  from  Arctic  Greenland  to 
Tropical  Australia,  from  land  to  land,  and  from 
sea  to  sea !  Verily  the  Churches  of  the  Augsburg 
Confession  engirdle  the  globe.  "Their  line  is 
gone  out  through  all  the  earth,  and  their  words 
to  the  end  of  the  world"  (Psalm  xix;  4). 

Is  not,  this,  then  a  world-wide — a  truly  Cath- 
olic Church?  And  what  has  given  the  Lutheran 
Church  this  universal  distribution,  this  general 
establishment,  this  door  of  entrance  to  all  peoples 
and  tongues,  is  her  genuine  Catholicity  of  spirit. 
There  is  nothing  narrow,  one-sided,  bigoted  in 
her  genius.  Bound  alone  by  God's  Word,  she 
is  free,  open,  and  many-sided  in  her  polity  and 
life.  She  does  not  make  essentials  of  things 
secondary  and  indifferent.  She  makes  a  test  of 
nothing  that  is  not  Scriptural.  Forms  of  Church 
government,  rites  and  ceremonies  of  worship, 
questions  of  casuistry,  etc.,  which  in  other 
denominations  are  often  made  tests  of  conscience 


206 

and   communion,    the    Lutheran    Church   justly 
relegates  to  the  sphere  of  Christian  liberty. 

Thus,  insisting  alone  upon  those  conditions 
which  the  Scriptures  have  made  fundamental, 
the  Lutheran  Church  by  her  large  Catholicity 
commends  herself  to  widely  varying  classes  and 
races  of  men.  She  adapts  herself  equally  to  the 
German  and  the  English,  the  Scandinavian  and 
the  Slavonic,  the  Finn  and  the  Lapp,  the  High 
and  the  Low  Ecclesiastic,  the  Monarchist  and  the 
Republican,  the  learned  and  the  simple.  Jt  is  this 
broad,  generic  character,  which  accounts  for  her 
world-wide  prevalence  and  popularity,  and  it  is 
this  which  gives  her  that  feature  which  should 
ever  be  the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  Church  of 
Christ,  viz.  that  she  is  truly  Catholic,  or  universal. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

UNPARALLELED    GROWTH    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

DEEP  as  is  the  interest  and  just  as  is  the 
pride  we  feel  in  the  world-wide  greatness 
of  our  beloved  Church,  her  condition  and  pros- 
perity in  this  our  native  land,  are  still  of  intenser 
interest  to  us.  Her  beginnings  in  America  were 
very  feeble.  The  first  Lutherans  came  to 
America  in  162 1  from  Holland,  and  were  perse- 
cuted and  repressed  by  the  Dutch,  so  that  it  was 
fifty  years  before  they  were  allowed  to  build  an 
house  of  worship.  This,  one  of  the  first  Luth- 
eran edifices  in  America,  was  erected  about 
1663,  but  soon  torn  down  and  succeeded  by  a 
plam  log  building,  at  the  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Rector  Street,  New  York  City,  in  1684.  In  the 
year  1638  some  Swedish  Lutheran  emigrants 
arrived  and  founded  the   Churches  on  the  Dela- 


208 

ware,  which  later  were  absorbed  by  the  Episco- 
paHans.  These  Swedes  immediately  upon 
landing  built  near  Lewes,  Delaware,  "the  first 
Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  on  this  continent." 

Shortly  after,  the  emigration  of  German 
Lutherans  began.  And  by  the  year  1710  they 
were  coming  in  large  numbers.  In  i734 
the  sharp  persecution  of  the  Lutherans  of  Salz- 
burg, drove  them  out  of  the  fatherland,  and  a 
large  colony  settled  in  Georgia,  on  the  Savannah 
River,  near  the  city  of  Savannah.  Pennsylvania, 
however,  became  the  centre  of  German  Lutheran 
emigration.  By  the  year  1750,  the  Lutheran 
population  of  the  colony  of  Pennsylvania  num- 
bered 60,000  souls. 

The  Lutherans,  however,  were  under  the 
greatest  disadvantages.  Speaking  a  strange 
tongue,  poor  and  uninfluential,  and  destitute  of 
pastors,  Churches,  and  schools,  their  spiritual 
condition  was  deplorable.  Scattered  as  sheep 
without  a  shepherd,  and  unable  to  compete  with 
the  stronger  and  native  denominations,  it  was 
inevitable  that  they  and  their  children  should 
largely  become  the  prey  of  the  sects  around  them. 
No  wonder,  then,  that  when  the  patriarch 
Miihlenberg  arrived  in  1842,  his  heart  was  so 
depressed   as   almost  to  despair  of  the  outlook. 


209 

But  what  a  mighty  ecclesiastical  organization  has 
been  developed  from  this  seemingly  hopeless 
beginning ! 

The  following  table  shows  the  marvelous 
changes  in  the  century  from  Muhlenberg's  death 
to  the  present. 


Ministers 

Churches 

Communicants 

1800, 

70 

350 

15.000 

1820, 

170 

850 

35,000 

1830, 

300 

1,000 

55,000 

1840, 

400 

1,200 

120,000 

1850, 

757 

1,624 

143,543 

i860, 

1,134 

2,017 

235,000 

1870, 

1,933 

3,417 

387,746 

1880, 

3,092 

5,388 

694,426 

1890, 

4,692 

7,948 

1,099,868 

1893. 

5,102 

9,119 

1,234,762 

I90I, 

6,814 

11,159 

1,674,175 

I9I5, 

9,688 

15,112 

2,437,706 

In  1748  Miihlenberg  organized  the  first  Lu- 
theran Synod,  composed  of  but  seven  clerical 
members.  Now  there  are  4  General  bodies, 
many  independent  synods,  almost  10,000  minis- 
ters, 15,000  Churches,  and  nearly  2,500,000 
communicants.  This  growth  is  altogether  un- 
paralleled by  that  of  any  other  ecclesiastical  body 
in  the  United  States.  The  Government  Census 
for  1890,  in  giving  the  comparative  growth  of  the 
religious  denominations  in  the  United  States  for 


2IO 

the  preceding  decade,  shows  that  the  Lutherans 
have  increased  in  membership  487,000  and  that 
the  percentage  of  increase  is  as  follows :  Luther- 
ans, 68  per  cent. ;  Episcopalians,  48  per  cent. ; 
Presbyterians,  39  per  cent. ;  Baptists,  37  per  cent. ; 
Congregationalists,  33  per  cent. ;  Methodists,  30 
per  cent.  The  Tercentenary  Clerical  Committee 
as  to  Religion  in  New  York  City,  1914,  report: 
"The  outstanding  fact  in  the  comparative  growth 
of  churches  is  the  tremendous  growth  of  the  Lu- 
theran Church.  From  1855  to  1905  its  churches 
have  increased  from  7  to  123.  Next  to  it  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  body  has  added  the  most 
churches,  viz.,  93,  but  the  Lutherans  have  out- 
stripped it  by  adding  116  churches."  The  15,058 
congregations  in  191 5  had  properties  valued 
at  $100,832,765.  During  1880-1890  there  were 
erected  3,064  Lutheran  Churches.  It  will  not 
do  to  talk  of  Christianity  declining,  when  there 
is  one  denomination  in  our  country,  which 
builds  upon  an  average  a  new  Church  every 
working  day  in  the  week.  Commenting  on  these 
figures,  Rev.  Dr.  Carroll,  the  Government  official 
for  taking  the  religious  census,  says  in  the  Inde- 
pendent: "The  growth  of  the  Lutheran  Church 
during  the  decade  last  past  has  been  phenomenal. 
While  the  rate  of  increase  in  the  entire  popula- 


211 

tion  since  1880,  has  been  a  fraction  over  28  per 
cent.,  the  Lutheran  Church  has  increased  by  68 
per  cent.,  or  more  than  twice  the  rate  of  increase 
of  the  population  of  the  country.''* 

This  amazing  numerical  and  material  growth 
has  been  largely  owing  to  emigration.  But  no 
less  extraordinary  also  has  been  the  intensive 
growth.  The  first  periodical  was  The  Lutheran 
Observer,  published  in  1831  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. Now  there  are  270  Lutheran  periodicals, 
published  in  various  languages.  In  1832  the  first 
college — Pennsylvania  College  —  was  founded ; 
now  there  are  32  Lutheran  colleges,  with  upwards 
of  5,000  students.  In  181 5,  Hartwick  Seminary 
was  our  solitary  theological  school,  now  there  are 
29  Lutheran  theological  seminaries  with  1,000 
students  for  the  ministry.  Besides  these,  there 
are  10  Young  Ladies'  Seminaries,  and  55  Acad- 
emies, and  162  Orphans'  Homes  and  Institutions 
of  mercy.  The  growth  in  the  publication  inter- 
ests has  kept  pace  with  other  advances.  It  has 
not  been  long  since  Lutheran  readers,  Sunday 
Schools,  etc.,  were  largely  dependent  upon  non- 
Lutheran  religious  publications.    But  20  publica- 

*The  U.  S.  Secretary  of  Church  Statistics  could  not  give  us 
the  figures  for  the  last  decade,  but  it  is  probable  that  the  same 
progressive  ratio  is  maintained. 


212 

tion  houses,  many  of  them  large  and  prosperous, 
now  send  forth  an  abundant  supply  of  distinctively 
Lutheran  literature. 

And  most  notable  of  all  has  been  the  growth  in 
benevolence.  As  the  Church  is  advancing  from 
poverty  to  comparative  wealth,  every  branch 
of  the  Church  shows  rapid  strides  in  this  respect. 
This  increased  progress  is  also  doubtless  largely 
owing  to  the  application  of  systematic  methods 
in  the  raising  of  funds.  The  "  Lutheran  Church 
Almanac"  places  the  Synodical  contributions  for 
benevolence  for  19 15  at  $3,526,428.  With  this 
amount  no  less  than  2,162  mission  congregations 
and  stations  have  been  maintained  in  our  rapidly 
expanding  Home  Mission  field.  The  great 
States  and  Territories  of  the  West  are  filling  up 
more  largely  with  Lutherans  than  any  others. 
Foreign  Missions  are  maintained  in  India,  Africa, 
and  Japan,  for  which  larger  amounts  are  appro- 
priated every  year.*  Individual  beneficence  is 
growing,  as  is  shown  by  the  more  frequent  and 
liberal  gifts  and  bequests  to  the  benevolent 
agencies  of  the  Church. 

*The  contributions  to  the  single  cause  of  Foreign  Missions,  for 
the  biennium  closing  with  1915,  made  by  the  General  Synod  alone, 
with  but  one-seventh  of  the  Lutheran  membership  of  the  country, 
amounted  to  $240,505,122! 


213 

The  unparalleled  growth  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  in  the  United  States,  in  all  these  respects, 
is  a  matter  of  surprise  and  solicitude  to  our 
brethren  of  other  households.  Surveying  the 
ecclesiastical  horoscope,  they  marvel  at  this 
"rising  denomination,"  this  "new  ecclesiastical 
star"  of  the  first  magnitude,  ascending  the 
religious  firmament.  But  there  is  nothing  either 
startling  or  strange  in  the  phenomenon.  It  is 
simply  that  the  Mother  of  Protestantism  is  pre- 
paring to  enfold  all  her  children  in  her  arms.  It 
is  that  the  leading  Church  of  the  old  world  is 
coming  on,  step  by  step,  to  take  possession  of 
the  new. 

And  while  this  marvelous  growth  must  thrill 
every  Lutheran  heart,  what  responsibilities  it 
devolves  upon  each  conscientious  member! 
Seasons  of  growth  are  critical  seasons — times  of 
opportunity  and  labor.  Never  was  there  such 
an  obligation  laid  upon  the  Lutherans  of  any 
country  or  age,  as  upon  those  of  the  rapidly 
developing  Church  in  the  United  States.  May 
they  have  the  energy,  the  judiciousness,  and  the 
consecration,  to  be  equal  to  the  hour! 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


LOYALTY    TO    THE    LUTHERAN    CHURCH. 

PATRIOTIC  loyalty — love  of  one's  native 
land — ,  and  domestic  loyalty — devotion  to 
one's  own  home — ,  are  justly  esteemed  among 
the  first  virtues.  How  much  stronger  reason, 
then,  is  there  for  Church  loyalty — unswerving 
fidelity  to  our  ecclesiastical  mother,  the  Church 
which  gave  us  spiritual  birth,  and  tenderly  nursed 
and  fostered  us  to  spiritual  maturity.  If  the 
traitor  and  the  filial  ingrate  be  shunned  among 
men,  what  shall  we  say  of  the  one  who  despises 
his  parental  Church,  and  deliberately  spurns  his 
own  ecclesiastical  household  and  family!  Accord- 
ingly, devotion  to  our  mother  Church  is  one  of 
the  most  sacred  Christian  obligations.  Phillips 
Brooks  well  said  that  "the  man  who  loves  the 
universal  Church  the  most,  will  be  the  truest  to 


215 

his  own  particular  Church."*  It  is  the  one  whose 
rehgious  convictions  are  vague  and  superficial, 
who  is  ever  ready  to  cry  that  one  Church  is  as 
good  as  another.  Loyalty  to  our  own  Church 
does  not  keep  us  from  loving  and  appreciating 
Christians  of  other  households,  but  it  does  demand 
that  we  love  ours  the  more,  and  give  to  it  our 
respect,  our  service,  and  our  defence.  There  are 
Churches  we  could  name  whose  members  are 
remarkable  for  this  unfaltering  fidelity,  and  what 
vantage  of  strength  and  influence  it  gives  them! 

The  degree  of  our  loyalty  naturally  depends 
upon  the  character  of  that  object  which  calls  it 
forth.  Thus,  American  patriotism  should  be 
exceptionally  strong  on  account  of  the  singular 
glory  of  his  country  which  thrills  the  breast  of 
every  true  American  with  pride.  And  so  the 
Church  love  of  the  Lutheran  has  more  stirring 
reasons  to  incite  it,  than  that  of  any  other. 
Writes  one  of  our  most  intelligent  laymen  :  "  We 
have  in  our  Lutheran  Church,  doctrine  that  is 
pure,  a  refinement  and  good  taste  exhibited  in 
her  forms  and  services,  that  must  satisfy  the 
most  fastidious,  and  a  history  to  which  all 
Christendom  does  homage.     Let  us  love  it ;  and 

*Yale  Lectures  on  Preaching,  p.  227. 


2l5 

let  us  show  our  faith  by  our  works."*  How  true 
this  is?  Where  is  the  Church  whose  faith  can 
stand  the  test  of  Scripture  as  ours,  or  that 
has  behind  it  so  illustrious  a  history?  And 
ought  not  these  considerations  to  inspire  within 
the  hearts  of  her  children  emotions  of  unequalled 
love  and  pride? 

And  yet,  what  are  the  facts?  It  must  be  con- 
fessed, we  fear,  that  perhaps  no  Church  in 
America  seems  to  have  so  light  a  hold  upon  her 
sons  and  daughters  as  the  Lutheran.  How  many 
are  always  ready  to  look  up  to  other  Churches, 
while  disposed  to  regard  disdainfully  their  own. 
And  how  common  it  is  for  Lutherans  to  be  ready 
to  seize  the  sliofhtest  occasion  to  sever  the  bonds 
that  hold  them  to  their  own  Church!  How  many 
Lutherans  there  are  who  do  not  honor  and  revere 
their  own  historic  characteristics,  and  instead  of 
holding  them  up  for  others  to  imitate,  are  ever 
eager  to  be  copying  from  others.  How  often, 
too,  when  a  prejudice  is  found  to  exist  against  an 
honored  Lutheran  usage,  the  disposition  is  to  defer 
too  greatly  to  it.  Whereas,  the  only  successful  way 
to  disarm  prejudice  against  a  rightful  custom  is 
by  its  courageous  use.      Such    a   manly    course 

*St.  "Navies"  Lenten  Messenger,  New  York.  1888. 


2l7 

will  at  once  demonstrate  the  groundlessness  of 
the  objection,  and  bring  honor  upon  the  Church 
and  its  practices. 

Why  is  it  that  we  have  sustained  such  incalcu- 
lable losses  from  time  to  time,  and  that  in  the 
great  cities  we  are  not  in  the  lead  as  we  should 
be?  It  is  lareelv  on  account  of  the  flaccid  fibre 
of  so  much  of  Lutheran  loyalty.  It  is  because  of 
that  lack  of  Church  love  which  springs  from  lack 
of  character  and  intelligence.  "A  man  with  a. 
heart,"  said  Frederick  William  III.  to  Napoleon, 
"will  remember  the  cradle  in  which  he  was 
rocked  when  a  child."  So,  a  want  of  Church 
loyalty  springs  primarily  from  the  defect  of 
religious  principle,  and  the  lack  of  a  true  self- 
respect.  But,  secondarily,  it  proceeds  from  the  want 
of  knowledge.  It  is  more  frequently  ignorance  than 
anything  else  that  causes  many  nominal  Lutherans 
to  regard  slightingly  the  Lutheran  Church,  and 
to  be  holdine  others  in  esteem  above  it.  "There 
was  a  time  when  the  dominant  tendency  was  to 
glory  that  we  are  like  everybody,  and  conse- 
quendy  nothing  in  ourselves,  living  by  mere 
sufferance,  despised  by  others  as  those  having 
litde  respect  for  themselves.  Suddenly,  as  the 
cloud  lifted,  the  great  proportions  of  our  Church, 
her   vast   heritage,    her   wonderful    structure    of 


2l8 

theology,  her  rich  treasures  in  every  department 
of  religious  literature,  and  her  active  work  in  so 
many  spheres  of  beneficence,  come  to  view. 
How  easy  now  to  glory  that  we  are  Lutherans!"* 
Intelligent  people  in  other  Churches  need  not  be 
told  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  are  accustomed 
to  look  up  to  it  with  the  greatest  respect.  It  is  a 
sad  commentary  therefore  on  the  ignorance  of 
our  own  members,  when  they  are  deficient  in 
esteem  and  love  for  the  house  of  their  faith  and 
of  their  fathers. 

A  higher  type  of  Lutheran  Church  loyalty  is 
then  one  of  our  most  imperative  needs.  It  is  not 
numbers,  but  quality — unfaltering  devotion — that 
makes  a  Church  efficient  and  progressive.  In  a 
crisis  of  unwonted  peril,  Caesar  would  lean  upon 
none  but  his  famous  tenth  legion,  because  he 
knew  he  could  trust  their  loyalty  to  the  last. 
They  would  die  before  they  would  betray  or  dis- 
honor the  Roman  standard.  So  Lutherans, 
while  not  disparaging,  or  thinking  uncharitably 
of  any  other  Church,  should  cling  to  their  own 
Church,  bear  high  its  standard,  defend  it  from 
misrepresentation,  and  do  and  sacrifice  for  it, 
with  a  devotion  that  knows  no  tire. 

*Introduction  to  "Lutherans  in  America,"  p.  lo. 


219 

The  scroll  of  Lutheran  Church  history  is  em- 
blazoned with  some  of  the  brightest  examples  of 
Church  love  that  shed  honor  upon  Christendom. 
And  so,  let  us  trust  that  the  era  of  Lutheran 
indifference,  denominational  laxity,  and  want  of 
self-respect  in  our  American  Lutheran  Church,  if? 
reaching  the  stage  of  "innocuous  desuetude." 
All  signs  indicate  rather  that  a  new  epoch  is  upon 
us  when  the  old  adage  will  be  proven,  "once  a 
Lutheran,  always  a  Lutheran."  And  when  no 
other  denomination  of  Christians  can  boast  a 
stronger  and  more  uncompromising  Church  love 
than  that  which  characterizes  an  Evangelical 
Lutheran.  When  Lutheran  parents  feel  a  deep 
solicitude  that  their  children  should  perpetuate 
their  family  name  in  honorable  place  in  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  and  when  Lutheran  sons  and 
daughters  feel  that  it  is  a  tribute  of  willing 
reverence  to  their  parents  to  abide  in  the  spiritual 
house  of  their  fathers,  then  will  our  numerous 
losses  cease,  and  will  our  beloved  Church  have 
pride  and  not  humiliation  in  her  children. 

Assault  who  may,  kiss  and  betray, 

Dishonor  and  disown, 
My  Church  shall  still  be  dear  to  ine — 

My  fathers'  and  my  own  ! 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

FUTURE    OF    THE    LUTHERAN     CHURCH    IN    AMERICA. 

WHEN  we  bear  in  mind  how  conspicuously 
the  Lutheran  is  the  leading  Protestant 
Church  of  Europe,  and  how  phenomenal  her 
recent  growth  has  been  in  America,  we  are 
naturally  disposed  to  raise  the  question,  "What 
shall  be  her  future  in  this  Western  World?" 
We  have  seen  that  during  the  last  decade  the 
Lutheran  Church  has  increased  at  a  ratio  more 
than  twice  that  of  the  increase  of  the  population 
of  the  country.  If  this  ratio  of  progress  con- 
tinues, it  is  evident  that  a  very  great  future 
destiny  is  before  us.  But  this  future  largely 
depends  upon  our  denominational  wisdom  or 
folly.  In  the  past  our  blunders  have  been  almost 
as  phenomenal  as  our  advance,  so  that  we  have 
grown,  as   it  were,  in  spite  of  ourselves.     Every 


221 

one  knows  that  our  losses  have  been  almost 
incalculable,  and  that  other  denominations  have 
largely  flourished  upon  our  best  material.  Patrick 
Henry  said  he  knew  of  no  other  lamp  by  which 
to  guide  his  feet  onward  than  the  lamp  of  experi- 
ence. And  so,  a  study  of  the  causes  that  have 
hindered  our  progress  in  the  past,  and  cost  us 
such  great  losses,  will  best  serve  to  guard  us 
against  these  mistakes  in  the  future.  To  make, 
then,  the  most  of  the  rare  denominational  opportu- 
nity which  Providence  has  placed  in  our  hands, 
let  us  note  these  lessons. 

First,  let  us  repress  fraternal  strife,  and  inter- 
synodical  prejudices,  jealousies,  and  contentions. 
And,  bound  together  by  the  tie  of  Lutheran  unity, 
let  all  work  together  with  the  common  purpose  to 
advance  our  beloved  Zion. 

Let  us,  too,  frown  down,  what  a  prominent 
German  Lutheran  minister  has  aptly  termed  "the 
linguistic  devil."  Let  it  rather  be  a  glory  to  our 
Church  that  she  is  the  Church  of  many  tongues, 
than  to  make  it  a  theme  of  reproach  and  an  apple 
of  discord.  Let  not  the  German  or  Scandinavian 
entertain  the  bigoted  thought  that  Lutheranism 
is  limited  to  his  narrow  native  tongue,  and  that 
one  cannot  be  a  Lutheran  if  he  uses  the  English 
language.     And   he   who  founds  an  English   Lu- 


222 


theran  Church,  must  not  commit  the  equally  grave 
error,  of  seeking  to  establish  a  totally  new  Church, 
rejecting  that  historic  faith  and  those  historic 
usages,  without  which  the  Church  he  frames  has 
no  claim  whatever  to  the  title  Lutheran.  In 
short,  the  Church  in  America  must  be  Luthe^'an, 
and  not  something  else.  And  it  must  more  and 
more  largely  every  year,  and  eventually  altogether, 
use  the  English  language.  A  Church  in  a  foreign 
tongue  can  never  come  into  thorough  contact 
with  the  life  of  a  people.  And  such  an  un- 
American  Church  will  be  but  a  diminishing 
influence,  and  ever  have  a  more  and  more  lan- 
guishing life.  Our  Church's  future  in  this  land 
depends  most  largely  upon  the  good  common- 
sense  with  which  our  foreign-speaking  Lutherans 
will  adapt  themselves  to  the  situation,  and  upon 
their  loyally  bringing  up  their  sons  and  daughters 
in  English  Lutheran  Churches.  An  unnatural 
effort  to  retain  them  in  a  Church  with  a  foreign 
tongue,  or  indifferently  allowing  them  to  go  to  a 
non- Lutheran  Church,  will  but  repeat  the  regret- 
ful story  of  the  past.  "There  is  no  reason  why, 
if  properly  administered,  the  Lutheran  Church 
should  not  be  as  influential  in  this  country,  as  any 
religious  communion  that  has  found  a  home  here. 
But  to  attain  this  end,  some  very  important  factors 


223 

must  be  regarded.  The  Church  feeling  as  dis- 
tinguished from  the  merely  congregational  must 
be  diligently  cultivated,  and  our  people  must  learn 
that  the  interests  of  the  Church  are  far  more 
important  than  those  of  any  congregation.  Then 
the  LtUheran  Church  feeling  must  also  be  asserted. 
We  must  build  upon  our  own  distinctive  doctrines, 
worship  according  to  our  own  Orders  of  Service, 
be  governed  by  our  own  polity,  and  cultivate  our 
own  form  of  Christian  life.  The  secret  of  the 
failures  of  some  men  in  the  Lutheran  ministry,  is 
that  they  have  never  understood  the  peculiar 
spirit  of  the  Lutheran  Church,  and  could  not, 
therefore,  build  up  Lutheran  congregations.  The 
secret  of  the  lack  of  success  of  many  congrega- 
tions is  that  they  have  attempted  to  provide  for 
Lutheran  people  according  to  measures  that  they 
have  seen  practiced  with  seeming  success  in  other 
denominations.  The  proper  rule  for  Churches  as 
well  as  for  individuals,  is :  'Be  yourself,  if  you 
would  gain  respect.'  This  is  especially  true,  when 
consistency  involves  no  disgrace,  but  is  the  high- 
est honor."* 

Another    error    of    great   significance   to    be 
avoided  in  the  future,  is  our  neglect  to  hold  the 

"The  Lutheran^  April  8,  1893. 


224 

great  municipal  centres.  Our  principal  strength 
is  in  the  smaller  towns  and  country,  and  our  chief 
weakness  is  in  the  great  cities.  And  as  those 
cities  are  the  very  heart  of  the  nation,  whence 
the  currents  of  life  and  influence  radiate  in  all 
directions,  those  who  control  them  hold  the  keys 
of  the  future.  We  have  the  country ;  we  have 
large  numbers ;  what  should  now  be  our  aim  is 
to  have  strong  Churches  in  the  leading  municipal 
centres.  This  will  give  our  Church  that  promi- 
nence, wealth,  culture,  and  influence,  which  are 
invaluable  aids  to  denominational  prosperity, 
piety,  usefulness,  and  power. 

Profiting,  thus,  by  her  sore  experiences  in  the 
past,  and  improving,  by  liberality  and  zeal,  the 
exceptional  opportunity  and  responsibility  given 
her,  the  future  for  the  Lutheran  Church  in  this 
land  is  a  most  auspicious  one.  It  must  be  borne 
in  mind  also  that  the  conditions  are  far  more 
favorable  to  her  now  than  they  formerly  were. 
Her  German  origin,  once  a  hindrance  and  re- 
proach, now  that  the  German  mind  is  the  acknowl- 
edged intellectual  master  and  preceptor  of 
civilization,  is  a  credit  and  stimulus  to  her.  For 
a  long  period  of  our  country's  history,  too,  the 
predominance  of  the  Puritanic  type  in  American 
Christianity  was  most  unfavorable  to  an  historic 


225 

and  liturgic  Church.  But  the  wonderful  change  in 
this  respect,  so  that  the  whole  tide  is  setting  pow- 
erfully in  favor  of  the  Churchly  denominations, 
makes  that  which  once  was  a  detriment  now  a 
signal  advantage.  The  historic  Church,  the 
Church  whose  faith  and  practice  are  rooted  in  the 
past,  it  now  appears  beyond  all  doubt,  is  to  be  the 
Church  of  the  future.  For  as  there  is  a  spiritual 
unity  binding  together  the  Christian  ages,  so  in 
the  true  Church  of  Christ  universal,  past,  present, 
and  future,  must  meet  in  one.  And  as  the  Lu- 
theran has  the  best,  and  richest,  and  most  glorious 
history,  this  is  a  vital  point  in  her  favor. 

Moreover,  as  the  Lutheran  Church  gave  to  the 
world  that  boon  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
which  is  the  peculiar  glory  of  our  institutions, 
the  genius  of  Lutheranism  is  especially  adapted 
to  the  spirit  of  America.  And,  as  then,  the 
Lutheran  Church  was  the  founder  of  the  pure 
phase  of  modern  Christianity,  so  let  us  trust  that 
in  the  very  forefront  of  those  Christian  columns 
which  are  here,  under  the  guidance  of  God, 
working  out  the  last  and  highest  problems  of 
human  destiny,  will  gleam  the  standard  of  our 
beloved  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. 


I 


I 


! 


,'J 


'i 


iik 


